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Houston Rockets Jabari Smith Brings Energy to Starting Line-up

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Horace Shivers | Last updated Mar 11, 2025 12:08 AM ET

Houston Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr returns to the starting lineup against the Orlando Magic and scores 20 points. Smith tied a career-high with five 3-pointers in the game. Smith is starting to find his rhythm for the Rockets as he is a huge part of the success of the team.

“I think just more shots came as we playing the same, the energy level went up a little bit and honestly I just made shots. I don’t think anything really change. We were scoring a lot in man and they tried to go in zone towards the end of the game. We do pretty well going against the zone as we have pretty good outside shooters” said Smith

The Rockets are starting to incorporate more of a big lineup towards the end of the season. Some of the changes to the lineup are because of injuries and trying to find the right lineups as the playoffs come near. Smith feels like the Rockets are making the proper adjustments as the regular season nears.

“AL P is pretty good in the middle and then I’m good in the middle so we love for teams to go zone against us as it shows that teams can’t guard us and we do what we do. It just comes with playing in the NBA as you have to adjust. We got to see what works as we have a lot of pieces on this team and sometimes, we just got to find the best way to mesh it,” said Smith.

Smith will continue to start with the injury to Amen Thompson. If Smith continues to have good nights like tonight it will be another difficult decision for head coach Ime Udoka once Thompson returns from injury.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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