At the Chase Center in San Francisco, the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets battled it out tonight in a critical Game 6 of the first round. Up 3-2 against Houston, the Warriors had a chance to close the series tonight with a win on their home court, and they had all the pieces necessary to secure a victory and advance to the second round.
The game opened with a 25-point quarter for the Rockets, who took an early four-point lead after the first 12 minutes. The game was still close going into halftime, and the Warriors even managed to close the gap with an impressive third-quarter run. In the end, however, Golden State was unable to pull through and secure the win, losing Game 6 by eight points (115-107) to set up an intense Game 7 showdown.
Fred VanVleet was the leading scorer for the Rockets with 29 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists on 53.8% shooting, while Alperen Sengun dropped 21 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists on 40.0% shooting. Young swingman Amen Thompson contributed 14 points, seven rebounds, and three steals on 38.5% shooting.
For the Warriors, Stephen Curry finished with 29 points, seven rebounds, and two assists on 39.1% shooting, while Jimmy Butler put up 27 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists on 41.2% shooting. At center, Draymond Green scored eight points, five rebounds, and seven assists on 37.5% shooting.
In what has been one of the premier playoff matchups in the West, the Warriors and Rockets are nearly evenly matched, and it has maximized the competitiveness and intensity of the series.
Mediocre Curry Game
The Warriors only go as far as Stephen Curry takes them, and it wasn’t very far tonight. While he managed to drop 26 points, six rebounds, and one assist tonight, Curry’s shooting and playmaking were off, with 38.1% shooting and four turnovers in 38 minutes of play.
Steph was -10 in the game and was forcing shots down the stretch that completely killed the Warriors’ momentum. On defense, Curry gave up 27 points to Fred VanVleet, who was on fire in the game with 6-9 shooting from three.
As Curry struggled on offense and gave almost nothing defensively, the Warriors were unable to find a rhythm in the game, and Jimmy Butler alone was not enough to make up the difference. Curry, 37, is becoming increasingly inconsistent, and it’s a bad sign for the franchise’s trajectory in the near future.
Costly Small-Ball
Big man depth has always been an issue for the Warriors, and it continues to hold them back this season. Without a proper center in the rotation, Steve Kerr has resorted to playing Draymond Green full-time at the position, and it’s led to some pretty nasty results.
In Game 6, the Warriors utilized small-ball for almost the entire game, and it cost them on the boards. They allowed the Rockets to out-rebound them (46-42) and had no answers as Houston’s bigs had their way under the rim.
The Warriors have had a lot of success with small-ball in the past, but tonight was more proof that the strategy doesn’t work anymore in a Western Conference full of elite big men like Alperen Sengun, Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert, and Chet Holmgren.
Supporting Cast Was M.I.A.
If one thing was clear tonight for the Warriors, it’s that their current cast of role-players isn’t enough to win another title. In the modern NBA, depth is everything, but after Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green, the Warriors don’t really have anyone else to lean on, and it showed in the loss tonight.
Despite getting the start tonight, Gary Payton II and Buddy Hield combined for just five points on 2-9 shooting. Off the bench, Moses Moody put up just 13 points on 38.5% shooting while Brandin Podziemski went 4-9 from the field for 10 points.
As a team, the Warriors shot an abysmal 38.4% from the field, and all of their top eight players made less than 45% of their shots. Tonight, depth was everything for the Rockets, and their role players stepped up in a way that the other side could not. Â
After taking a 3-1 lead over the Rockets, the Warriors were in a position to win the series. Now, however, after losing two straight games, the Warriors have been pushed to the brink with Game 7 on Sunday, May 4. Only time will tell how it plays out for the Dubs, but anything less than a total and complete victory will be marked as a failure for the franchise.
