Jalen Green continued his scorching game streak with a game-high 32 points on Wednesday against Sacramento, and he set several NBA rookie records along the way. That didn’t lead to a win for the Rockets, however, who were edged out in Houston by the Kings, 121-118 (box score).
Green, who shot 6 of 14 from 3-point range (42.9%) in 37 minutes, set an NBA monthly record for treys by a rookie, and he also became the first rookie in NBA history. NBA to hit five or more 3-pointers. in four consecutive games. With 32 points, he joined Hall of Famer and former MVP Hakeem Olajuwon as the only Houston rookies to score more than 30 consecutive games.
Green had help from teammate Kevin Porter Jr., who recorded the first triple-double of his young NBA career with 30 points (64.7% FG, 40.0% on 3-point range), 12 rebounds and 12 assists . However, the shorthanded Rockets (20-57) haven’t had much production beyond their dynamic duo, especially with Alperen Sengun (left leg contusion) sidelined and veterans Christian Wood , Eric Gordon and Dennis Schroder continuing to rest in 2021. -22 regular season draws to a close.
The Kings (28-49) were led by their own first-round rookie in Davion Mitchell, who had a team-high 24 points and 8 assists on 11-of-22 shooting (50.0%). The Baylor University product also played solid defense against Porter on the final possession of the game, which ended with a rushing 3-pointer from Josh Christopher that missed the buzzer.
Tonight was ideal:
Jalen Green 32 points, featured, taking 25 shots and hitting six threes.
KPJ 30 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists, just 3 turnovers.
Bruno Fernando 17 points, 10 rebounds (what?)
Rockets remain tied for the worst record.
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) March 31, 2022
In losing, Houston maintained its position (tied with Detroit and Orlando) at the top of the intense race for positioning in the 2022 NBA Draft. With Wood and Sengun out, third-year big man Bruno Fernando took advantage of a rare occasion and scored a career-high 17 points in 22 minutes on 6-of-8 shooting (75.0%). He also grabbed 10 rebounds.
Scroll for highlights and post-match reaction.
Kevin Porter Jr on @JalenGreen“We trade buckets. When he makes a bucket, it feeds me. This motivates me to support and help him. When I make a bucket, it feeds it. We just have each other’s backs. We are Batman & Joker. We go there and have fun swapping buckets with each other” pic.twitter.com/02VZpUG2E0
—Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) March 31, 2022
KPJ called Jalen Green his “little brother” and said together that they were “Batman and Joker”. KPJ said Green was so good it was hard to consider him a rookie. “He’s young. I’m young but he’s *young*.”
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) March 31, 2022
Jalen Green on not making that last shot against the Kings: “It doesn’t matter. I feel like every player on my team can get that shot.”
— Coty M. Davis (@CotyDavis_24) March 31, 2022
Kevin Porter Jr. on his triple-double: “No, I can’t enjoy this one, for real. At the end of the day, you want to win, so it wasn’t good enough.”
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) March 31, 2022
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