The Warriors sensed how big the stakes were. Facing a two-point deficit entering the fourth quarter, Steve Kerr contracted an already tight rotation and was ready to jack up the minutes for Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry.
The young Rockets weren’t fazed. Instead of being blinded by the lights of a massive Game 6 in a hostile Chase Center environment, Houston went on a 20-5 run across eight minutes and never looked back in a 115-107 Game 6 victory at Chase Center.
Golden State, even with all the urgency in the world, didn’t have the legs on jump shots, the burst on drives, the ups for rebounds or loose balls. Although the Warriors denied that fatigue played a factor, they looked tired as they missed 15 of their first 16 shots in the fourth quarter as the game slipped away from them.
The Rockets, a mediocre offensive team, have found scoring confidence to force a do-or-die Game 7 on Sunday in Houston.
“You understand there’s pressure to win on your home floor,” Steph Curry said postgame. “They’re playing great, you’ve got to give them credit. It’s not like we’re just laying an egg and rolling over, we’re fighting.”
Fred VanVleet dropped a team-high 29 points on 6-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. In the past three games, he’s 18-for-27 (67%) from behind the arc. Curry (29 points) and Butler (27 points, nine rebounds, eight assists) elevated their play, but their teammates didn’t support them enough offensively.
If Game 5’s pummeling made the series resemble the 2022 Western Conference Semifinals against the Grizzlies, Houston forcing a Game 7 conjures memories of the infamous 2016 NBA Finals. If the Warriors can’t reach back into their championship savvy and pull out a win on the road, they’ll have blown another 3-1 lead.
Three minutes into Game 6, Draymond Green picked up a flagrant foul for slapping Jalen Green on the back of the head. It’s his second this postseason, and four flagrant fouls in the playoffs earns a one-game suspension — remember 2016?
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The Warriors’ starting five of Curry, Butler, Green, Moses Moody and Gary Payton II — a group that hadn’t logged a single minute together prior — didn’t yield immediate results. Golden State continued to struggle against Houston’s zone, turning the ball over 11 times in the first half. After Houston corralled its sixth offensive rebound, Steve Kerr inserted veteran Kevon Looney to try to control the glass better.
An 11-0 personal Curry run rescued the Warriors from a double-digit deficit, and Butler’s fall-away 3 at the end of the half pulled Golden State within five.
But the Rockets came out firing in the second half, hitting eight of their first 13 shots. They seemed to haul in every loose ball and continued to pound the Warriors on the glass like they have all series.
The Warriors tried to disrupt Houston’s offensive flow by intentionally sending Steven Adams to the line, but even that wasn’t a real solution.
Curry and Butler combined for 20 of the Warriors’ 36 third-quarter points. All the Warriors needed to do was win the final 12 minutes by at least three.
But in the fourth quarter, Payton fell asleep on an inbounds pass and fouled VanVleet on his sixth made 3-pointer of the night. “It’s just like you lose the life,” Green said postgame. Several Warriors highlighted VanVleet’s four-point play as one that spelled trouble for the Warriors, who struggled to string stops together all night.
It wasn’t until Golden State trailed by 16 that Curry scored his first points of the fourth quarter. By then, the game was already over.
The Warriors lost the game because they couldn’t slow down Houston. And Payton II, Green and Hield combining for 13 points on 5-for-17 shooting wasn’t nearly enough, either. The Warriors generated clean looks against Houston’s zone, but their role players couldn’t convert.
Losing Game 6 is a real blow for Golden State. It obviously doesn’t eliminate the Warriors, but it makes their dreams of making a deep playoff run significantly less realistic. It’s likely not a coincidence that since the round transitioned into an every-other-day pace, Golden State has lost its grip on the series.
One more loss and the Warriors’ season is over. Winning Game 7 at the Toyota Center on Sunday would mean Game 1 in Minneapolis Tuesday against the Timberwolves.
There’s no respite from here on out for the Warriors, whose best players are either old, banged up or both. The playoffs are a battle of attrition, and Golden State has faulted on its chances to earn rest days.
“We were ready to compete tonight, things didn’t go our way,” Butler said. “Okay. We’re going to be ready to compete on Sunday, and we’re going to make the game go our way.”