SAN FRANCISCO — About 30 minutes after the Houston Rockets’ gut-wrenching 106-103 Game 4 loss to the Golden State Warriors, a dispirited Jalen Green sat at his locker, attempting to process a swirl of emotions. Most of his teammates had departed for the buses, leaving behind an empty, despondent locker room.
Green, fully dressed, stared out at the entryway, almost as if he were searching for an answer that wasn’t coming.
In that moment, Green was more than just a member of a Rockets team on the brink of elimination, once again at the hands of those pesky, feisty, battle-tested Warriors. He was more than a player learning hard playoff truths about how a defense can completely nullify an offensive weapon. In that moment, Green was simply a man down on his luck.
An hour before tipoff, as Green was going over film on the floor with assistant coach Royal Ivey, he was interrupted by a young boy in the row behind, draped in blue and gold Warriors gear. Green paused his work to sign autographs, with Ivey smiling and shaking his head. A few minutes later, Green’s session was interrupted again by Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, who grabbed Ivey on his way to the locker room while toying with Green. A few feet away, members of both organizations fraternized, a display of mutual respect and camaraderie that is uncommon during the playoffs.
This series, four games in, has been about several factors beyond simple Xs and Os. It’s about the spirit of competition, evident in the plethora of skirmishes, dust-ups and altercations. At times, Game 4 felt like the buildup of gritty undercards, with more stoppages in play for officiating reviews than made field goals. Determination, from a lower-seeded Warriors team that has extracted victories in different ways — from Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, role player 3-point shooting and Draymond Green’s visceral defense — and displayed experience the Rockets haven’t attained.
But for Green and the Rockets, frustration and confusion have been prevalent in all three losses. Green’s inability to counter the Warriors’ aggressive defensive game plan tailored around him has Houston in the dreaded 3-1 deficit playoff folklore warns about.
In Game 4, Green finished with just eight points on eight shots, played 25 minutes and committed five turnovers. In the Rockets’ three losses, Green has totaled 24 points. In six of the last seven games Green has played — including the final three games of the regular season — he’s been held under 10 points. Whether it’s been a lack of rhythm, aggressive defense or a combination of the two, Houston struggles when Green, its most dynamic perimeter player, is neutralized.
“Not his best night offensively, obviously,” Udoka said, “but you can’t let that affect your all-around game. Still make the right play. Make the right read and let guys be recipient, and you’ve still got to guard at a high level and not get discouraged by an off night offensively.”
It didn’t take long for the Warriors to figure out how to slow Green down. On Monday night, Buddy Hield got the first assignment, picking Green up full court, pressuring him from the onset and forcing him to either give the ball up or worse, try to power through. When Hield’s shift finished, Gary Payton II’s began. Green, even in his fourth year, is not yet a ballhandler who can withstand a high amount of physicality.
Golden State found ways to constrict a floor that was already not properly spaced. At every turn, there was a Warrior in Green’s vicinity. After this series ends, Green will reflect on the coverages he’s been swarmed with and learn ways to counter them. For a 23-year-old in his first playoff series, there’s respect attached to the pressure. The Warriors understand the dangerous trickle-down effects a bouncy Green can have on the rest of his team.
“A lot of guys like to get into rhythm when they play,” Warriors guard Moses Moody told The Athletic. “So the more you can get into him and disrupt that rhythm, you can control the possession. He’s a good player. He’s a good scorer on their team, so as a defender, you want to stop points that they emphasize and need to get going.”
In the second half, Green didn’t have much of an impact in Houston’s half-court offense. The more the Warriors pressured Green with the ball, the less his teammates could oblige him without it. Udoka sat Green for the final 8:51 of the third quarter. After checking back into the game at the beginning of the fourth, Green sat for the final 4:51.
“We’ve got to do better jobs of screening for him,” Fred VanVleet said, “and opening up the floor for him and giving him some space to get downhill. But again, he’s going to bounce back. I’ve got no doubt in my mind. We need him confident and strong and positive, and he’s got a big game coming Game 5.
“It’s his first experience in the playoffs, and teams throw different looks at you. There’s a lot of ups and downs. There’s a lot that you have to deal with, and I’m proud of how far he’s come since I’ve been here as a player. But we need him to be playing at his best and at a high level, and he takes our team to a different gear. So we’ll look at the film and see how we can help him be more effective.”
In Game 4, the Rockets found success with Alperen Şengün and Amen Thompson attacking the core of the Warriors’ zone, although Golden State will be satisfied with Şengün’s 31 points coming on 28 shots. The Rockets will likely continue with that strategy, trusting that some of Şengün’s road jitters will be assuaged in front of a familiar home crowd. The score was tied at 104 with under a minute to go. Houston has missed 31 free throws in its three losses, which have come by a total of 24 points. Even for the worst free-throw shooting team in the league, there’s likely solace in that.
But the bulk of Houston’s potential to extend this series falls on Green’s shoulders. Yes, a No. 2 seed shouldn’t be this psychologically overmatched against a lower-seeded team. And, yes, the Rockets will leave San Francisco full of regret, feeling like all three losses have come from very winnable positions. But as the great American lyricist Shawn Carter once said, moral victories are for minor-league coaches. Green has to be better — whether it’s Houston putting him in better positions to excel or Green muscling his way through Warriors opposition — if the Rockets want to halt their vacation plans.
“I feel good, man,” VanVleet said. “Listen, these games suck. We had two ones that could have went our way. This is the playoffs. I’ve been swept before, and I felt like we’re the better team. You lose all four; like the margin of error is so slim, it can go either way, and you learn that it comes down to possessions. And possessions are so important. It’s really a one-possession game, both of these games here on the road trying to be aggressive and give us some calmness out there. But we’re going home, and to get one, it’s just not impossible. We’re going to get it, and you just have to get it one game at a time and stay confident, keeping this group together and going out there and competing.”
Game 5 won’t be about which team stays out of foul trouble, which team shoots more 3s or which team has the better talent. There won’t be any surprises, either. Curry was relatively quiet (17 points on 13 shots) on Monday, but Butler (27 points on 7-of-12 shooting) and Brandin Podziemski (26 points on 9-of-18 shooting) will be depended on again on Wednesday. Elimination games come down to who’s hungrier, who survives in a do-or-die moment. These Rockets have not found themselves in such a predicament. There’s not a lot of time to figure it out, either.
“Consistency wins in this series,” Udoka said. “We’ve talked about that from day one, and we have to be a lot more consistent across the board. The plan is obviously to go home and get one and come back.”
(Photo of Jalen Green being defended by Buddy Hield: Kelley L Cox / Imagn Images)