A week after their last face-to-face in San Francisco, tonight's meeting starts on the same basis. Stephen Curry (19 points) and Jonathan Kuminga (20 points, 7 rebounds) show up for the Warriors, while Jabari Smith Jr. (15 points) and Alperen Sengun (26 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists) carry the Rockets with 14 and 13 points while their teammates are at 20% on shots (18-18)!
Golden State's eight lost balls during the first fifteen minutes, however, allowed Houston to pass them a 10-2 straddling the first and second quarters (28-20). The Texan defense continues its demonstration and further increases its intensity.
They caused three violations of the 24 seconds, limited the Warriors to 0/7 on 3-points and 4/15 on shots, while the awakening of Jalen Green (12 points, 5/15 on shots) gave them a 14-point lead. (40-26).
At the Warriors, Buddy Hield sets the sights
Golden State then stops the bleeding with its defense. Brandin Podziemski throws himself to the ground, Stephen Curry steals the ball twice from Jalen Green's hands, and they end the half with an 11-4 lead to stay in ambush (44-37). Returning from the locker room, the Warriors continue their momentum. Behind Stephen Curry, their attack finds bite and Buddy Hield (15 points) takes advantage. He makes 3/5 at 3-points and little by little Golden State comes back. They even took a four-point lead just before the end of the 3rd quarter (69-65).
Houston's attack is floundering more and more and Lindy Waters III confirms the good second half for the Dubs (78-72). Dillon Brooks and Tari Eason, however, wake up the Rockets with their defensive activity and a 3-pointer from Jabari Smith Jr. brings them within one with less than five minutes to play (83-82).
While the momentum is turning, the Warriors follow up with a 3-pointer from Podziemski, a physical defensive stop from Draymond Green (8 points, 5 lost balls) on Alperen Sengun, followed by another 3-pointer from Jonathan Kuminga to regain seven points in advance (89-82).
Houston's defense makes the difference
With their backs to the wall, the Houston defense then tried everything for everything. Ime Udoka's men caused two new violations of the 24 seconds, before seeing Draymond Green lose the ball. During this sequence a winning shot from Fred VanVleet (8 points, 3/13 on shots) and a lay-up from Sengun brought them back to -1 (90-89).
With just over 27 seconds on the clock, Stephen Curry missed the opportunity to kill the game with a 3-point shot and on the rebound, a foul was called against Jonathan Kuminga. This gives two free throws to Jalen Green and the advantage to the Rockets with 3 seconds to play (91-90)! One last good defense from Houston sends them to Las Vegas and breaks their 15-game losing streak against the Warriors.
WHAT TO REMEMBER
– The Houston defense validates the ticket to Las Vegas. Houston's defense initially set the tone, limiting the Warriors to 37 points on 16/42 shooting while forcing 14 loose balls in the first half. The Warriors regained their game during the first 19 minutes of the second half but the Rockets found their defense at the best moment. Golden State lost 7 balls in the last quarter and only scored one point in the last four minutes of the game. With their backs to the wall, Ime Udoka's men forced two 24-second violations, and two bad decisions from the Green – Curry duo to win a quarter-final that seemed lost.
– The Warriors sabotage themselves again and again. Steve Kerr's men led by 7 points with 3 minutes 38 to play and again by 6 points with 80 seconds on the clock and lost the match. Money time was a festival of bad decisions. Draymond Green first sent a laser pass to Jonathan Kuminga who ended up on the first baseline. With 27 seconds on the clock, Stephen Curry looked for the blow by taking a 3-pointer with 11 seconds to play rather than eating up the clock, and finally with 5 seconds still on the clock, Gary Payton II was on the ground with the ball and Steve Kerr did not take a timeout, opening the door to a loose ball and Jonathan Kuminga's fatal foul on Jalen Green. As against the Thunder, the Nuggets, the Spurs and the Nets, the Warriors lost a fifth in less than three weeks in “money time”.
– Buddy Hield surpasses the 2,000 3-point mark. With his first two 3-pointers of the game in the third quarter, Buddy Hield reached and then exceeded the symbolic mark of 2,000 3-point shots scored in his career. He became the 17th player in history to reach this mark and the second fastest behind teammate, Stephen Curry, by doing so in 656 games.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
