Houston’s Filipino-American Jalen Green ignites as Rockets silence Thunder, 118-105
By Emmanuel Rivera, RRT PhilBoxing.com Mon, 28 Nov 2022
Houston may have found a solution to their NBA problem— Filipino-American Jalen Green who, last night, announced himself to the basketball universe.
With a breakout performance against the visiting OKC Thunder, Jalen Green recorded 28 points and a career-high nine assists for the Rockets with a dazzling array of deuces, treys and dunks in 34 minutes of play time. He was 6/9 from the 3-PT range. More of an offensive player, he has shown his defensive potential grabbing 2 rebounds.
The 6’4'' shooting guard was the Houston Rockets’ second overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft. He is one of only two current NBA players of Filipino-American descent— Jordan Clarkson, point guard for the Utah Jazz being the other.
Both Green and Clarkson are following the footsteps of retired Raymond Townsend, the first NBA hoops star with Filipino ancestry, who briefly played for the Golden State Warriors and Indiana Pacers, back in the early 1980’s.
The 20-year old Jalen Romande Green, according to his NBA.com profile, was born February 9, 2002 in Merced and raised in Fresno, and Livingston, California. He finished high school at Prolific Prep in Napa, and chose to skip college basketball to join the NBA G League’s ‘Ignite’ team. He signed with the Rockets in 2021.
We can be sure that the rest of the league took notice of Green, a rookie who previously won three gold medals with the United States at the junior level garnered Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2018 FIBA Under-17 World Cup.
Oh, yes, the game…
The Rockets defeated the visiting OKC Thunders from Oklahoma , 118-105.
Houston’s Alperen Sengun added 21 points, 19 rebounds, seven assists and three steals in the victory.
As a team, Houston shot 52.3% FG and 50% 3-PT.
As a team, the Thunder shot 39.2% FG and a lowly 22.7% on 3-PT range.
OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tallied 32 points, three rebounds and three assists for the Thunder in their loss.
The Rockets improved to 5-14 for the season, whereas the Thunder fell to 8-12.
Upcoming:
Houston Rockets: Visit mile-high Denver to face the Nuggets on Monday.
OKC Thunder: Visit Smoothie King Center to play against Zion Williamson and NOLA Pelicans on Monday.
Note of Appreciation:
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