Jabari Smith Jr. has broken his slump with recent stretch for Rockets

Whether you’re a fan of Jabari Smith jkr. or still wish Houston drafted Paolo Banchero or Chet Holmgren, there’s no denying that Jabari Smith seems to have turned a corner after struggling for a stretch earlier this year.

In the four games after the All-Star break, Jabari has scored 15, 21, 31 and 12 points, respectively, which averages out to almost 20 points per game (19.8). However, it’s not just the scoring for Jabari, it’s how he’s scoring. Houston has struggled offensively since December 1 into parts of January, and over that time period, Smith had the worst shooting run of his career. Smith shot just 31.7 percent from downtown and 41.1 percent from the field between December and mid-January. Smith started turning it around after that and has played some of the best basketball of his career, especially over the last 15 games, according to Sports Illustrated. Moreover, in this recent stretch since the ASB, Jabari is shooting a scorching 46 percent from three, and while that number will obviously come back down to earth, if Jabari could stay shooting in the high 30s to low 40s percentage-wise, that will be a huge boost for a Rockets team that has struggled at times offensively.

Since the break, Jabari’s line reads 19.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.5 blocks per game on 64 percent shooting from the floor (not a misprint) and 46 percernt from deep. He’s even showed an improved handle, the lack of which has been a common fan critiscism for the 22-year-old forward.

If Jabari keeps playing like this, sucess for the Houston as a team is likely to follow, as according to stats from RocketsWire, when shooting 38.3 percent on threes and averaging 15.8 points towards the start of the season (Oct. 21 to Jan. 1), Houston got out to a great offensive start. Simmilarly, when Jabari’s three-point percentage went down to 30.6 percent (from Jan. 3 through Jan. 16), Houston as a whole began to struggle, and in a recent sample size (Feb. 10 through Feb.24) Jabari is shooting 45 percent from three. The Rockets are 4-2 over that stretch, a higher win percentage (.666) than their cumulative record for the season (.632). All this being said, Houston clearly is benefiting from Jabari’s recent play, as it provides the team another offensive weapon.

So while Smith took a lot of criticism for his bad stretch, he also deserves praise for turning it around. The still young Smith has time to develop into the top-notch stretch four Houston fans thought was being drafted. All it takes is a little more season-long consistency. He’s got three or four more seasons before he enters his athletic prime.

Jabari Smith jr. and the rest of the Rockets will be back in action Thursday at 6:30 pm as they take on the Orlando Magic in Orlando. You can watch the game on SCHN, and as always, be sure to check back at The Dream Shake for both pre- and post-game content.