Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
SAN FRANCISCO — In his two seasons in Houston, Fred VanVleet’s positive influence on the Rockets’ young core cannot be overstated.
The veteran point guard, an NBA champion in 2019 and an All-Star in 2022 with the Toronto Raptors, provides a calming presence in the locker room and on the court as an extension of Rockets coach Ime Udoka. But as Houston trails the Golden State Warriors 2-1 in a first-round playoff series marked by offensive struggles, the Rockets’ highest-paid player has been notably inefficient.
Through the first three games of the playoff series against the Warriors, VanVleet is making just 26.8% of his shots (11-of-41) and 20.7% of his 3-pointers (6-of-29) while averaging 41 minutes, 11.3 points and four assists per game.
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“Yeah, there will be time for it. There’s a time and a place for it,” he said. “I’ve tried to dance on that line all year, and I think that the best version of this team is when everybody’s contributing and everybody can flow in their rhythm and Jalen (Green) and Alpi (Şengün) are playing at a high level as a duo and the rest of us are making shots and making plays on the back end of that.”
He continued, “Now, there’s times and places where I have to play better, I have to make shots at a higher clip. I have to find rhythm and find ways to be more aggressive. But obviously, if I’m getting two on the ball at 28, 30 feet, I feel like I’ve done my job for that possession. If I can draw a mismatch and I can draw a best defender, there’s opportunity for other guys, I feel like I’ve done my job on that possession. So, it’s different ways to attack. I have to be better, 1,000%, and if I make two more shots we probably win Game 1. If I make a couple more (Saturday), we probably get out of here with a win so that’s totally on me, for sure.”
VanVleet is in the second season of a three-year free agency contract with the Rockets, who have paid him $83.6 million in salary so far with a $44.9 million team option for 2025-26. The Rockets must decide by June whether to pick up that option; they could also decline the option but re-sign VanVleet for next season at a lower salary, or let him walk.
VanVleet has delivered some of his biggest scoring performances of the season in high-pressure games against high-caliber opponents: 38 points in a win against Oklahoma City, 27 points in an overtime win in Minneapolis, 7-of-12 on 3s in a home win against Cleveland, 6-of-9 on 3s in a road win against Cleveland.
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It looked like Saturday was trending in that direction as VanVleet scored Houston’s first nine points and ended the first quarter 4-of-6 from the field. But VanVleet took just eight shots for the rest of the game and faced intense ball pressure from the Warriors, which the Rockets were unable to capitalize on when VanVleet passed out of traps.
On a night where Green, Şengün and Amen Thompson all missed point-blank shots and the Rockets shot 19-of-48 in the paint, VanVleet finished the game with 11 potential assists and three actual assists.
“They’ve been going after him and Jalen quite a bit in the pick-and-rolls, kind of hawking them full-court,” Udoka said. “When they did put two bodies on the ball, we didn’t do a good enough job making them pay tonight. As you saw, we were 19-for-48 in the paint. That’s not good enough. Point-blank layups or floaters or making the right read from there — you have to convert those. They did, with Payton and (Draymond) Green slipping out, and we didn’t.”
VanVleet doesn’t have to score to have a positive impact; in Houston’s Game 2 win, he went 2-of-8 with seven points and two assists but the Rockets were plus-19 in his minutes after he tallied three steals and helped defend Stephen Curry. In that game, however, Green better handled the Warriors’ trapping and exploded for 38 points.
A point guard’s quintessential quandary is deciding when to facilitate and when to score. If Green and Şengün continue to struggle when they are focal points of the Warriors’ defensive game plan, does Udoka urge VanVleet to be more assertive?
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“I wouldn’t say it’s anything I have to tell Fred,” Udoka said. “He knows when to balance that, when to be aggressive, like he came out last night (Game 3) and then when to get guys involved. And so for him, he reads it really well, makes the right play more often than not. But at the same time, if he can be a recipient out of some of those traps, he’s going to get those open looks. He hasn’t shot it particularly well this series, but he gets those open looks or he makes the right play. And so he balances it well, of when to be aggressive and not.”
The Rockets also rely on Green, and to a lesser extent Thompson, to initiate offense at times instead of relying solely on VanVleet. Udoka said the Rockets call plays to designate who brings the ball up after dead ball situations or in certain matchups but are more equal opportunity in live-ball situations after a defensive stop.
In the Golden State series, another determining factor is how Green adjusts to defensive pressure. When he gets off the ball quickly, the Rockets can get to favorable actions; when he doesn’t, as in Game 3, Udoka said the Rockets need to let VanVleet or others handle the ball to avoid traps.
The Rockets are taking more shots in the last four seconds of the shot clock (17.8% of possessions) than any other playoff team this postseason. Udoka said he cares about the quality of the shots more than their timing, but noted that the Rockets can be quicker to take advantage of four-on-three matchups when the Warriors blitz — which they do more often against Green than against VanVleet.
“It’s definitely more Jalen than Fred on a consistent basis in a few games,” Udoka said. “And when we do get the separation we saw what happens, and get downhill and get to our shooters. And so have to do a better job of screening before the big comes up, get that separation has been good for us, and then guys can attack. But even if they do, I think for us, we need to invite that and get into our outlets and cash in those opportunities. And so if we do it the right way, as we have at times this season, teams should be scared of doubling and getting Alpi in the middle and letting him make decisions.”
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Houston is shooting 41.3% from the field in the series. A more aggressive VanVleet might be the spark the Rockets’ halfcourt offense needs to turn things around in Game 4 on Monday, but the point guard said he’s still trying to find his rhythm.
“Every team guards me differently. Obviously they are familiar with me and I know that they are going to guard me a certain type of way,” VanVleet said. “I think it was important for Jalen to get going in Game 2. I know that it was going to be a different atmosphere, so I wanted to get off to a good start for us and settle us down and give us a shot and try to work the rest of the guys in. That was key. Good to see a couple go in and got to build on that for the next game.”
