The Rockets (yes, Houston!) are on a playoff push that should make the Warriors and Lakers nervous

Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey.

Now, here’s Prince J. Grimes.

The Houston Rockets aren’t a team I’ve been able to say nice things about in a long time. In fact, I don’t usually have a reason to talk about them at all. Lately, though, they’ve come on strong and I feel compelled to acknowledge it before they complete what’s been a long push for one of the final play-in tournament seeds — or fall just short.

Whatever the result, the effort has been commendable.

By now, you’ve surely seen the viral clip of Jalen Green’s acrobatic layup in Tuesday’s win over the Washington Wizards (if not, you might want to check it out now). It’s just a marvelous finish and something I imagine only a handful of players can pull off. However, what shouldn’t get lost in that one incredible highlight is Green’s entire body of work against Washington. He matched a career-high with 42 points, shooting 12-of-21 from the field and 7-of-13 from three, with 10 rebounds.

Normally, I would say ignore what people do against the Wizards — they’re really that bad — but Green has been on a tear, and it’s helped the Rockets go on their own run of eight wins in nine games, including six straight.

THE JELLY https://t.co/rHnARDF4oi pic.twitter.com/QRqshRqoUw

— NBA (@NBA) March 20, 2024

After Tuesday’s win, Houston sits just 2.5 games behind the Golden State Warriors for 10th place in the Western Conference and the final spot in the play-in tournament — 3.5 games behind the ninth-place Los Angeles Lakers. And there’s no indication the Rockets will slow down soon. Especially not with how Green is playing.

Over his last 10 games, Green is averaging more than 27 points on 48 percent shooting, just the second such stretch of his career. He’s also chipping in six rebounds and a steal per game in that span, earning last week’s Western Conference Player of the Week award.

.@JalenGreen is your WC Player of the Week

Through three games:

AVG 26.3 PTS | 8.6 REB | 49.2% FG | 45.8% 3PT pic.twitter.com/c7csLfrXCj

— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) March 18, 2024

Behind Green’s lead, the Rockets have moved up from 12th place and eaten into what was a seven-game margin behind 10th place at the start of March. With an upcoming stretch of home games against the Chicago Bulls, Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers, they have a really good chance to keep the positive momentum going.

The one unfortunate part of their run is they’ll likely have to complete it without Alperen Sengun, who missed the last four games after suffering what’s been reported as a severely sprained ankle and bruised knee — and that may ultimately be the undoing of their postseason pursuit. But it’s fun to see the Rockets finally play meaningful basketball again after a rebuild that appeared stuck in the mud for so long.

One to Watch

(All odds via BetMGM)

Milwaukee Bucks (+400) at Boston Celtics (-10.5; -550), 7:40 p.m. ET

Unfortunately, Giannis Antetokounmpo won’t be playing in this one, so the game won’t turn out to be the potential Eastern Conference finals preview many of us were hoping it would be. Regardless, I’ll take the Bucks to cover +10.5 on the road simply because of the uncertainty around Boston’s own stars. Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday are both questionable, and though the Celtics could win even if both miss the game, that’s a lot of points to cover.

Shootaround

— Get your fresh Power Rankings right here, courtesy of Mike Sykes, who has the Pelicans soaring into contender territory.

— Tyrese Haliburton was incredibly candid about being viewed as ‘just a prop’ in his reflection on fandom and gambling. Robert Zeglinski has more.

— Speaking of sports betting, it’s arrived as a feature on NBA League Pass.

— There’s some good stuff coming from the first episode of LeBron James and JJ Redick’s new podcast, including this anecdote on Jayson Tatum’s struggles to get over the hump.

That’s it from me y’all. Check back Friday for more Layup Lines.