In Sunday's win at Golden State, the Rockets held Warriors superstar Steph Curry to just 3 points on 1-of-10 shooting (10.0%). For the future Hall of Famer, it was his lowest career scoring game among nights in which he's played at least 30 minutes.
While a collectively strong defensive effort led to that success, it was the individual brilliance of Amen Thompson that stood out most.
The second-year guard/forward had 14 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks on 7-of-14 shooting (50.0%), and the Rockets were an astounding +26 in his 29 minutes. During most of that time, Thompson was the primary defender on Curry.
“He had been on a heater lately, and so we wanted to obviously pay him a little bit more attention,” Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said of the defense against Curry. “And when you got a special guy like Amen doing what he does, that’s the result.”
Teammate Jalen Green posted to social media that he believes Thompson should be the NBA's 2024-25 Defensive Player of the Year.
In defeat, Curry gave his props to the 22-year-old, as well.
“That’s why he’s out there for 30-plus minutes a night, because that’s how he helps them win,” said Curry, an 11-time All-Star, four-time NBA champion and two-time Most Valuable Player (MVP).
“He’s kind of relentless, he’s a supreme athlete, and has found his lane, again, on how he can be impactful. So you tip your hat to him, and he’s gotten a lot better every time you face him.”
Thompson grew up in the Bay Area near Oakland and San Francisco, so he was excited to face one of the NBA's flagship franchises of the modern era and an all-time great in Curry.
“It was extra motivation trying to get a win up here,” said Thompson, who was drafted by the Rockets at No. 4 overall in the 2023 first round.
With Sunday's victory, the Rockets (52-27) have won 15 of their last 17 games and are on the verge of locking up the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. With Thompson in a key role as a starting forward, this will be Houston's first trip to the NBA playoffs since 2020.
"He's locking up the best players in the world right now," All-Star center Alperen Sengun said postgame of Thompson. "The best players in the league.”
