SAN FRANCISCO – There was no panic among the many Warriors’ veterans on Wednesday night time, not one of the staff’s celebrity core seemingly all that involved with dropping Recreation 5 of their first-round collection in opposition to Houston on Wednesday.
After the 131-116 loss that noticed coach Steve Kerr yank the starters in the course of the third quarter, Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Inexperienced calmly assessed the various issues that went incorrect.
All through their public prognosis, a way of “we’ve been here before and know what to do” pervaded their statements.
The Warriors missed their likelihood at ending the collection in 5 video games, however are nonetheless up 3-2 with a visit again to the Bay on the schedule.
“We turned the page quickly,” Inexperienced mentioned. “We just started talking about possible adjustments we can make, things we see, stuff we can get into.”
With Recreation 6 set for six p.m. Friday, right here’s what Golden State must do to advance to the second spherical and a showdown with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Keep out of foul bother
Golden State had 4 fouls within the first 4 minutes of play, and received into the bonus on the 7:44 mark of the primary quarter. That barrage of fouls helped Houston get to the road 13 occasions in the course of the fourth quarter, the place the often shaky Rockets made each single one.
And people fouls couldn’t be blamed on youthful inexperience. Inexperienced, Butler and 32-year-old Buddy Hield every had one foul, and Curry was known as for 2.
“I didn’t have them ready to play, clearly,” Kerr mentioned. “We committed three fouls in the first two minutes of the game … We can’t come out with that lack of defensive focus and energy and expect to beat a great team in a closeout game.”
Get to the road
Alongside those self same (free-throw) strains, it will actually assist the Warriors to get a number of straightforward factors early within the recreation. They didn’t try a single foul shot till the center of the second quarter, when Gui Santos break up a pair to make it 54-25 on the 6:53 mark.
That is an space the place the staff has gotten assist from Butler, who mentioned he’s feeling barely higher every day as he recovers from a pelvis harm sustained in Recreation 2.
Butler averaged a team-high 7.7 free-throw makes an attempt per recreation within the common season, and shot 12-of-12 from the stripe in a Recreation 4 victory. Butler shot simply 5 in 25 minutes in Recreation 5, however has confirmed he can draw fouls with the most effective of them in a a lot bigger pattern dimension.
“We’re fine,” Butler mentioned. “Our confidence is unwavering, and we know we can start out better, and play better.”
Drive Jalen Inexperienced to beat you
Fresno-area native Jalen Inexperienced stays an offensive enigma for the Rockets. At his explosive, athletic and shotmaking finest, he scored 38 factors on an array of robust jumpers in Houston’s Recreation 2 victory.
However he has additionally been held to underneath 12 factors in every of the opposite 4 video games, the lowlight coming when Buddy Hield locked him up on a number of possessions throughout Recreation 4. He has shot simply 13 of 42 exterior of Recreation 2, and has been an inconsistent playmaker.
The Warriors might be effectively served to take their possibilities with Inexperienced gunning out of the pick-and-roll, and never the hot-shooting Fred VanVleet (12 3-pointers made and 51 mixed factors over the past two video games).
Keep composed
Recreation 5 was so uncompetitive that it took till late within the fourth quarter, when the Warriors’ reserves made a comeback and compelled the Houston starters again into the sport, to see both staff get a technical.
That has not been the case for a lot of the collection, as Tari Eason, Dillon Brooks and Alperen Sengun have achieved their finest to muddy up the sport and attempt to get into the heads of Inexperienced and the Warriors’ vets.
Earlier than and in the course of the collection, Kerr has pressured the significance of sustaining poise. The Warriors have achieved a good job of it to date, and that might want to proceed in Recreation 6.
