It’s time for the Rockets to crank up the Green-House effect

Sixth grade, it’s when science goes from exciting classroom activities to the curriculum that features physical, earth, and space. While most, if not all, topics covered in science can be tiresome, learning about the Greenhouse effect has always been a personal favorite.

The Australian Government Department of Environment & Energy best defines this phenom as a natural process that warms the Earth’s surface. When the Sun’s energy reaches the Earth’s atmosphere, some of it is reflected back to space, and the rest is absorbed and re-radiated by greenhouse gases. Although this is the correct scientific term, a pair of Houston natives has brought new light to the term “greenhouse effect”.

Despite a 101-99 loss to the Miami Heat on Thursday, the Houston Rockets have been playing better basketball of late. With James Harden leading the way, the Rockets have won five of their last six games and jumped from the 14th seed to seventh in the West within a week.

Although the reigning MVP has played out of his mind, Harden has received plenty of help from his supporting cast, especially from the production coming off Houston’s bench.

With Eric Gordon starting in place of the injured James Ennis, the Rockets’ second unit has played some of their best basketball of the season, averaging 25.4 points per game through their five-game winning streak. Houston’s most recent surge off the bench is a result of the better-quality production coming from Gerald Green and Danuel House, also known as the Green-House effect.

To fully understand how productive the two has become, one must take a look at their numbers when on the floor together as a two-player lineup. With an offensive rating of 123.6 over the last six games, Green and House have become a mini one-two punch, averaging a combined 35.8 points as a two-player, on 51.0 percent shooting from the field, and 42.9 percent shooting from downtown.

To put this into perspective, Green and House have been better offensively than the duo of Chris Paul and House (29.7 ppg), and slightly better than Harden and Green (34.5 ppg). While Green and House have made their mark on the offensive end, their play on the defensive side of the ball is also worth an appreciation.

Of course, they’re not exactly elite, but Green and House are developing into one of the better defensive tandems in Houston.

When on the court together over the past six, Green and House are holding their opponents under 50 percent shooting from the field (42.9%) and a remarkable 28.0 percent from behind the arc. With a defensive net rating of 99.5, the two-player lineup of Green and House has played a factor in helping the Rockets hold their opponents to 104 points per game.

In fact, the Green and House combo have a plus-minus of +8.2 over the last six games, making them the fourth-best two-player combo on the Rockets during that time frame. And we’re about to see even more of them on the court together with Houston’s current injury troubles.

Although Gerald Green and Danuel House are far from the best twosome in Houston, the Rockets need their production to succeed, similar to the way earth’s atmosphere needs its energy from the sun. And with Chris Paul out for 2-4 weeks due to his latest hamstring injury, Houston will need as much of the Green-House effect heating things up as possible to stay relevant in his absence.