Jabari Smith Has Been Playing Some of His Best Basketball Recently

The Houston Rockets have been an up-and-down team since they got off to a blistering 13-4 start to the season. The Rockets were one of the best offensive and defensive teams in the first two months of the season.

There were a few reasons for the Rockets' fast start to the season. They benefited from a light schedule, with no back-to-backs in the first two months and multiple days off between games on several occasions.

Of course, it also helped that the Rockets traded for one of the greatest players of all time, Kevin Durant, during the offseason. Durant brought his normal, efficient, dynamic offense to the Rockets and was the main reason they were ranked number one on offense early in the season.

Another reason for the fast start was Jabari Smith's play. Smith, now in his fourth season, got off to the best start of his career as he was shooting a career high from 3-point range in the first two months of the season.

From the start of the season until the end of November, Smith was averaging a career high 15.1 points a game, shooting 45 percent from the field and 39 percent from beyond the arc. Smith was playing the best basketball of his career up until that point.

Then the calendar switched to December, which meant a tougher schedule with more road games and fewer days off between games. Every Rocket outside of Durant struggled in December and most of January, but no player struggled more than Smith.

From December 1st to the middle of January, the Rockets went 11-11, and Smith saw his averages drop across the board. He averaged almost two points less per game, saw his field goal percentage drop to 40 percent, and his 3-point percentage drop to 31 percent.

The Rockets 110-105 defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 16th, a game that saw Smith only score nine points on 3-12 shooting, which had been the norm for Smith for almost two months. However, that game was the turning point for Smith, who would start to break out of his almost two-month slump.

Jabari Smith Has Been Playing His Best Basketball of the Season Recently

Since that January 16th game, Smith has been one of the Rockets' best players. In the following game, he scored a season high 32 points, going 11-17 from the field and 7-13 from beyond the arc in the win.

That was the start of Smith playing some of his best basketball of the season. Smith is averaging 16.1 points on 47.6 percent shooting from the field and 39.5 percent shooting from downtown.

I asked Smith, who is getting a good amount of those points from flashing to the paint when Alperen, KD, or double-teamed. Is that something the coaching staff stressed to him, or is it more him reacting to the defense?

"I think it's just kind of common sense if they want to double you got to flash be available for them to make a pass rather than sitting weak-side."

It isn't just his play on offense that has stood out; Smith is also leading the Rockets in shot blocking during that time.

Smith has 17 blocks in the last 12 games and is doing a great job when teams try to put him in pick-and-roll situations. The Rockets are 8-4 in those 12 games, and Smith is one of the main reasons they secured those eight wins.

The Rockets are back in action Tuesday as they welcome the Los Angeles Clippers for back-to-back games before the All-Star break.