How Gerald Green went from unemployed to balling out for the Rockets

On the final possession of the Golden State Warriors’ win over the Houston Rockets on Thursday, with everything except the final score decided, Gerald Green was triple-teamed. It didn’t matter — the worst he could have done was hit a three-pointer. Another three-pointer. On this evening, only a triple-team could reliably prevent that.

Yes — these are legitimate sentences being written about Gerald Green, not Stephen Curry, or Klay Thompson, or some other known shooter. Green wasn’t in the league on Christmas Day, but the Rockets signed him on Dec. 28 for some added bench depth. It was a move that made more sense than peanut butter and jelly. Honestly, how did Green and Mike D’Antoni take this long to hook up?

After a scoreless first game with the Rockets, Green scored 18, 10, and 27 points in consecutive games. On Thursday facing Golden State, Green exploded for 29 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Houston signed Green and has mostly asked him to do one singular thing: shoot threes. He has hit 21 threes over the past four games, including 15 in the past two.

Look: Green won’t always do what he did on Thursday. In one instance, he banked in a step-back three-pointer. Green completed a four-point play in the corner, too. It has been unconscious shooting even as Green works his way back into game shape — remember, this dude wasn’t in the league two weeks ago.

On the other hand, no team makes more sense for Green. Houston shoots more threes than anyone else, and so does Green, a streaky-but-proven scorer who has averaged six or more three-point attempts per 36 minutes in each of his last five seasons.

Sure, Green bites on pump fakes and half-heartedly gambles for steals he has no chance on. Sure, he’s prone to dumb heat checks. But Green, a 36.3 percent career three-point shooter, needs no rhyme or reason to rain down buckets upon unsuspecting opponents. For this Houston team, that’s all it’s asking of him.

Green’s story is a great one

I profiled Gerald Green three years ago when he was still playing in Phoenix. At the time, I remembered him from his Dallas Mavericks days, his final stop before a three-year sojourn through international basketball and the G-League

“Gerald was humiliated,” said Ken Williams, previously his high school coach and now his mentor. “He was humiliated. I know he was. But he never said nothing about it to me. He just said, ‘Coach, I had to go through something and now I’m back.’”

Green is a Houston native, too. During the 2007-08 season when Green was still 22 — he came into the league straight out of high school (remember?) and he played a single game for the Rockets, only to be cut. That won’t happen this time around. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Rockets plan to guarantee Green’s contract for the rest of the year.

You don’t need to ask Green how he feels about this stint with the Rockets — just look at his new haircut, something he got right after signing in Houston:

Green is one more weapon for Houston

In a healthy Rockets rotation, Green is an eighth or ninth man at best. Everyone knows Mike D’Antoni prefers tight rotations when games get tough, and Green probably won’t make that cut every game.

But Green is also the type of player who could heat up and win the Rockets a postseason game when they need something extra. He nearly did it on Thursday — or, at least, helped keep them in it despite James Harden’s absence. (Yes, to be fair, the Warriors were also missing Kevin Durant.)

This is the perfect team that can accentuate Green’s strengths, and it’s the best situation that he could ask for. It’s easy to be happy for Green, who has truly found his perfect landing spot.

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