Jalen Green credits Draya Michele and their baby for uptick in career

Jalen Green recently exploded for 42 points against the Washington Wizards. Green's shooting performance puts him in a tie with his career-high in scoring.

During a post-game interview, the Houston Rockets guard thanked his wife, Draya Michele and baby for keeping him motivated to play at an elite level on a nightly basis.

Ever since the All-Star break concluded, Jalen Green shifted gears and performed at a star's level. Looking at his stats for the entirety of March, Green averaged 24.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. He is also averaging nearly one steal a game, proving that he's an all-around player capable of providing a bit of everything for the Rockets.

Green is currently playing in his third season with Houston and in the NBA. He already showed promise during his rookie season when he averaged 17.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg and 2.6 rpg.

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Rockets vs Wizards recap: Jalen Green explodes for 42 points

The Washington Wizards recently hosted the Houston Rockets in an interconference matchup. Houston overwhelmingly annihilated the Wizards, 137-114 with Jalen Green leading the charge. The 22-year-old had a solid double-double performance, adding 42 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.

Two other Rockets players had double-double performances as well. Amen Thompson came up huge with 25 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and one block. Then there's Jabari Smith Jr. who added 18 points, 14 rebounds and one steal. Jeff Green (12 points) and Jock Landale (10 points) also helped the three leaders with the offensive workload.

Surprisingly, everyone except one Wizards player scored in double digits, and all played their part and attempted to keep the game within reach. However, their efforts weren't enough to keep up with Rockets' pace.

Washington had three leading scorers with Jules Bernard, Justin Champagnie and Corey Kispert each scoring 16 points. Jared Butler nearly notched a double-double with 15 points and nine assists, while Jordan Poole came up with 13 points. Then the remaining Wizards players had 12 points apiece with the exception of Johnny Davis.

After their dominant victory over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday, the Houston Rockets are now on a six-game winning streak. Houston is only two games away from surpassing the Golden State Warriors for 10th place.

If they successfully overtake the Warriors in the coming games, the Rockets will have a shot to compete for a playoff spot in this year's Play-In Tournament. That's only given when Golden State fails to win the majority of their remaining games in the season.