SAN FRANCISCO – Steph Curry’s longevity is on full display in the Warriors’ first-round NBA playoff series against the Rockets, as two of Houston’s top players were elite high school prospects at his own camp. 

Jalen Green showed out in the summer of 2018 before his one season at Prolific Prep, the basketball academy in Napa. The same ridiculous athleticism Amen Thompson plays with today in the NBA was seen at Curry’s camp in 2022. 

Thompson was talked up as the next ‘Steph Stopper’ entering the playoffs after how he helped blanket Curry in a regular-season game just two weeks before the postseason began. Curry had three points in that Warriors loss and went 1-of-10 shooting, just to drop 31 on 12-of-19 shooting with five 3-pointers in Game 1. Myth debunked, again. 

When Curry broke down the Warriors’ Game 2 loss Wednesday in Houston, nothing brought out his frustration more at the podium than looking down at the box score and bringing up Green’s game. A game where Green punished Golden State with 38 points, and eight big ones in the fourth quarter. 

“We just let Jalen get going a little bit, and he got free to space,” Curry said. “There’s no reason he should get up 18 threes. We gotta figure out a way to control where he is on the floor. Those are all momentum threes that kind of kept the separation. … We let him get loose.”

They didn’t Saturday night in the Warriors’ 104-93 Game 3 win, when Green scored just nine points. Curry said the Warriors had to control where Green is on the court. Message received. He was kept in check, and that usually tells the story for the Rockets. 

There were a lot of known factors going into this series of what could determine the outcome. Curry always could flip a game on his own with his scoring outbursts, and how those around him shoot is ever important knowing how the Rockets guard him. The Warriors knew they needed to take care of the ball against the Rockets’ defense, and they only had 10 turnovers in Game 3, which led to 11 points for Houston. The Rockets outrebounded them again — but not by a wide margin — and the Warriors won the hustle and transition stats.

How they went after Green also made all the difference for Golden State. 

He isn’t Curry or Butler, but he can swing the pendulum of how this series can go nearly as much in his own regard. 

“They did what they did, went after Jalen quite a bit and everybody was making him pay from there,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. 

A handful of Warriors held Green to nine points on 4-of-11 shooting, one game after he shot 13 of 25 overall. Green made eight of his 18 3-point attempts in Game 2, but took just five in Game 3 and made one. That’s how it has gone for him throughout the season, and especially against the Warriors. 

His first shot of the night was a three from the top of the arc that was blocked by Draymond Green, leading to a Jonathan Kuminga dunk. The Warriors bottled his athleticism and didn’t let him get downhill consistently. He wasn’t able to create separation, taking away his outside shot essentially all night long. 

Green’s four made shots came from two layups, one dunk and one three at the end of the first quarter. No fourth-quarter explosion, no heater at any point. 

“We just played with more force,” Draymond said. “He kind of roamed free in Houston the other day. So we just made sure to play with more force. Not just with Jalen, though, with everybody. Just made sure they felt us a little more on the defensive end.”

In the Rockets’ 52 wins this season, Green was one of the better young players in the NBA, averaging 22.5 points on 44.6-percent shooting with a 37.1 3-point percentage. Green in those games had a 57.2 true shooting percentage, 114 offensive rating, 108 defensive rating and an average plus/minus of plus-12.7. But those numbers took a significant dip in losses. 

In the 30 games the No. 2-seeded Rockets lost, Green averaged 18.4 points on 38.1-percent shooting with a 32.3 3-point percentage. When the Rockets lost, he had a 49.2 true shooting percentage, 103 offensive rating, 122 defensive rating and his average plus/minus was a minus-14.8. 

The Warriors and Rockets played each other five times in the regular season, with the Warriors taking three of those games. Green in the Rockets’ two wins averaged 16.5 points, and only 10 in their three losses. The Rockets needed 38 points and eight threes from him to win Game 2, and Green has averaged 9.0 points on 26.9-percent shooting in the two games the Warriors have won. 

It’s no secret how much the Rockets lack half-court scoring. NBA All-Star center Alperen Şengün, who was limited to 15 points and 11 rebounds Saturday, is going to put up numbers off his size and skills combination. Green is the one outside threat who really can get the Rockets ready for liftoff. 

When Green’s stuck on the launching pad, the Warriors know the Rockets’ offense is a shell of itself, and they’ll keep throwing everything at him to keep swinging the pendulum in their favor.

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