Houston Rockets: Top 10 moments from 2017-18 NBA season

10. The emergence of Gerald Green

Throughout the first two and a half months of the 2017-18 NBA season, Gerald Green found himself seeking to stay fresh after receiving unfortunate news following the conclusion of the preseason.

The 32-year-old swingman, who had played for eight different organizations over the course of his 10-year career, was cut by the Milwaukee Bucks on the final day of training camp.

"“No team wanted me,” Green said to ESPN ‘s Tim MacMahon. “No overseas team. Not even a D-League team.”"

Until the Houston Rockets came calling.

Green, who was signed by the team just three days after Christmas, became an indispensable member of the Rockets. He came from out of the shadows to knock down huge 3-point shots, defend and provide added wing depth for his hometown squad.

Through 41 appearances in the regular season, Green averaged 12.1 points per game on nearly 37 percent shooting from downtown. He scored in double figures a total of 28 times, as the 2007 Slam Dunk champion scored 29 points on 9-for-16 shooting off the bench in a Jan. 4 showdown against the Golden State Warriors.

Green also came up big for the Rockets during the playoffs, as he posted the first playoff double-double of his career with 21 points and 12 rebounds to help Houston earn a win against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 2 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.

"“He’s earned a lot of trust from everybody,” Mike D’Antoni said when asked about Green’s play during the season. “He’ll play 15 minutes and get 10 [3-pointers] up and probably will make a bunch of them, so he’s instant offense.” “We got lucky with him, very lucky.”"

Despite never knowing how much playing time he would garner throughout given stretches of the season, the emergence of Green proved to be helpful whenever the Rockets called his number, as Houston’s quasi-like sixth man always came up big when asked to contribute at both ends of the floor.