That was the reality for Houston Rockets flamethrower Jalen Green entering the league. His top-of-the-line vertical and three-level scoring drew the T-Mac comps dating back to high school. But his NBA journey didn't begin with that comparison so easy to spot.

Jalen Green, Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks and Tari Eason scored in the game’s first minutes to give the Rockets a 9-2 lead, but the Hawks went on a 12-0 scoring run fueled by baskets from Zaccharie Risacher. Houston took a timeout to stop the bleeding.

After the Houston Rockets nearly relinquished a 20-point lead but staved off an Atlanta Hawks rally in a 121-114 win Tuesday night at Toyota Center, a pattern revealed itself in the box score.

Entering this game, the Houston Rockets in March so far are tenth in the NBA in total points per game, first in rebounds per game, and have moved up to the two seed in the West. Taking on the 16-57 Jazz,