Third-year Houston Rockets shooting guard Jalen Green earned his first-ever NBA Player of the Week award on Monday. The league’s PR team announced that Green was named the Western Conference Player of the Week. A second Jalen, Knicks All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson, was the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.
Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green and New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson have been named the NBA Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for Week 21 of the 2023-24 season (March 11-17). pic.twitter.com/qkvhElduJL
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) March 18, 2024
As the tweet indicates, the week in question covers March 11th-17th. Green led Houston to a 3-0 record in that span, while averaging 26.3 points on .492/.458/.769 shooting splits, 8.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 0.7 blocks a night. He helped improve an ascendant Houston club to a 32-35 record. Still just the West’s 11th seed, the Rockets are nipping at the heels of the Los Angeles Lakers (the ninth seed at 37-32) and the Golden State Warriors (the tenth seed at 35-32). They’re just three games south of Golden State at present.
The Rockets beat the lowly San Antonio Spurs 103-101 on Tuesday, the lowly Washington Wizards 135-119 on Thursday, and the East’s No. 2 seed 117-103 on Saturday. They’ve now won five straight bouts, and seven of their last eight. They’ll get a chance to extend their win streak to six with a rematch against the Wiz, who at 11-57 have the worst record in the NBA.
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Green was the second overall pick out of the NBA G League Ignite in the 2021 NBA draft. He’s had a bit of an uneven start with the Rockets, who posted a paltry record of 42-122 during his first two seasons in Houston. Long seen as an inefficient, high-volume scorer, it appears Green is finally rounding into form this year. This POTW honor certainly feels indicative that the league, at least, has noticed.
A lot has changed for Houston this season. The Rockets hired Ime Udoka to serve as their new head coach, and he has rounded the club into form on both sides of the ball. Houston general manager Rafael Stone also opted to sign several veterans to help bolster the club’s intriguing youth. He inked veteran small forwards Dillon Brooks and Reggie Bullock Jr., former Toronto Raptors All-Star point guard Fred VanVleet, and championship-winning combo forward Jeff Green.
Prior to his season-ending injury, Houston center Alperen Sengun had looked like a major candidate for Most Improved Player honors. He emerged as Houston’s de facto best player, averaging 21.1 points on 53.7% shooting from the floor, 9.3 rebounds, and five dimes. The 6’11” big man looked like a fringe All-Star when he was healthy. With Sengun down, Green has assumed more of the club’s scoring burden.
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