Amen’s slowly becoming unstoppable.
It is about playoff time, Rockets Fans! As we await the final standings and the reveal of our first-round opponent, I figured we should take a look at an important Rockets player who has shown extreme growth throughout the season. Get your guesses in now, can I get a drumroll, please?
Congratulations, if you guessed Sophomore guard/forward/swiss army knife Amen Thompson, you are correct! Amen Thompson was known for his outstanding defense before entering the NBA, and his defense during his rookie season did not disappoint. Additionally, in his second season, Amen’s defense has only gotten better, as he is in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year and is likely a lock for one of the NBA All-Defensive Teams. However, an aspect of his game that has not been talked about enough is his recent improvements to his three-point shot. Not only is Amen’s shot going in, it’s more that his shot also looks different, which can be credited to Amen working with shooting coach Ben Sullivan.
Amen started the season shooting 33.3 percent from three before going down to 28.7 percent the following month. Thompson then struggled shooting from distance, hitting just 22.7 percent and 21.4 percent in January, but he bounced back in February, shooting a then-season best 35.3 percent. For context, during the 2024-2025 NBA season, the league average three-point shooting percentage is 36.5. This means that for February, Amen shot almost a league average from distance. Unfortunately, Amen’s shooting percentage went back down to 23.1 percent in March, and although he is currently shooting 50 percent from three in April, he has only attempted four three-pointers so far.
Now, if we look at a larger sample size of games, Thompson shot 25.4 percent from three before the All-Star break, and has improved to 34.8 percent post-All-Star Break. On the other side if we look at a smaller sample size, Thompson shot 35 percent in the last 15 active games, although this is a smaller sample sizes, his percentages are looking better. Additionally, I have noticed that Amen is shooting particularly well from the corners.
While Amen’s three-point shooting improvements are outstanding, I am unsure if this will carry over to the playoffs, but I am cautiously optimistic.