{"id":130567,"date":"2025-03-24T19:58:57","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T23:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=130567"},"modified":"2025-03-24T19:58:57","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T23:58:57","slug":"rockets-jabari-smith-thriving-in-bench-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/24\/rockets-jabari-smith-thriving-in-bench-role\/","title":{"rendered":"Demoted Rockets Forward Thriving In Bench Role"},"content":{"rendered":"

Houston Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr.<\/a> came off the bench for the eleventh time in his career on Sunday night. That appearance happened to end in a disappointing loss<\/a> to a Denver Nuggets team missing MVP candidate Nikola Jokic<\/a>. All eleven of Smith’s bench appearances have come since his return from injury<\/a> after the All-Star break. But how has Smith’s transition to the bench affected his performance? How has it affected the Rockets as a team?<\/p>\n

Demoted Rockets Forward Thriving In Bench Role<\/h2>\n

Smith’s Role On The Rockets Bench<\/h3>\n

Smith is averaging 13.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game coming off the bench<\/a>. That’s compared with 11.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.3 steals, and 0.9 blocks over 39 games as a starter. Meanwhile, his minutes have dropped from 31.0 as a starter to 27.7 as a reserve. It’s clear, either from that comparison or just from watching the team play, that Smith is being used as more of an offensive focal point in his new bench role. Indeed his usage rate as a starter was 15.5% whereas his usage rate as a reserve has been 18.3%.<\/p>\n