WCF: P5 | (1) Houston Rockets vs (2) Golden State Warriors | HOU 3-2

[scrabbarista]

Yep, you're within one game of making the Finals and there's no guarantee you'll ever be able to get this close again. I'm sure if someone told Dwight Howard after he lost to the Lakers in the Finals that he would never return to the biggest stage again he would have laughed in their faces.

I agree with you, but I actually remember Dwight saying before that series, "We have to give our all, because you never know if this opportunity will ever come again." (But what people say and what they do/think/believe are often two different things .)

[JXL]

This is going to be 7 games that the Warriors win. This scenario is similar to OKC in 2016, except Durant should do the opposite of what he did in that series for the Warriors in this one (not choke when it counts).

[ken6199]

Still felt refs slanted everything they could to help rockets, within rules, even inbound location...that said wont blame them. Rockets played horrible and we didnt win, our own fault.

And that's salty post in every possible way.

Houston played championship defense for 2 games in a row, forcing a combined 36 turnovers from GS, hitting their biggest shots when needed. "Rockets played horrible and we didn't win, our own fault"??? Give some damn credit.

[Jadoogar]

lol Harden just shot 0/11 from 3 (5/21 overall) and Rockets still won.
Their defense was incredible, CP3/Gordon/PJ Tucker all share player of the game

Durant has looked awful for the last two games, he got his points this game but shot poorly from the field and just messed up the offense in general.

I think warriors will win still because they have a great team but the fact that the Rockets have made it interesting has made it a successful playoffs for me.

How mad is the NBA going to be if neither the Warriors nor Lebron are in the finals?

[Jadoogar]

Still felt refs slanted everything they could to help rockets, within rules, even inbound location...that said wont blame them. Rockets played horrible and we didnt win, our own fault.

And that's salty post in every possible way.

Houston played championship defense for 2 games in a row, forcing a combined 36 turnovers from GS, hitting their biggest shots when needed. "Rockets played horrible and we didn't win, our own fault"??? Give some damn credit.

lol this is also kind of nonsense because the Warriors benefited from terrible calls. The most egregious was when Ariza was sandwiched between two warriors and some how that resulted in free throws for Durant. What could Ariza even do there?

[nbafan38]

This is going to be 7 games that the Warriors win. This scenario is similar to OKC in 2016, except Durant should do the opposite of what he did in that series for the Warriors in this one (not choke when it counts).

Except this time game 7 for the warriors would be on the road so it's kind of different.

[bigben998]

First the rockets would lose in 5, then lose in 6, now apparently 7..... they have been doing everything people said they couldn't do since before the season even started. Hopefully people keep underestimating them, it's worked so far.

[JXL]

This is going to be 7 games that the Warriors win. This scenario is similar to OKC in 2016, except Durant should do the opposite of what he did in that series for the Warriors in this one (not choke when it counts).

Except this time game 7 for the warriors would be on the road so it's kind of different.

If a team wants to be great, winning a Game 7 WCF on the road is pivotal. The 2002 Lakers is a good example.

[ken6199]

I've said this during the Minny series - Houston had an extra gear, and that's Eric Gordon.

Without him waking up, we can squeeze through the first two rounds, but no matchup for this GS team. Gordon brought it, hitting the biggest shot in game 4 after going 0-7 from 3, did it again in game 5 after 2-9, AND played great defense. EG stepped up when it's needed the most.

[JJ_PR]

So if the Rockets beat "the best team in history" does that mean the Rockets hold that title now? Lol

[HotTubMike]

I've said this during the Minny series - Houston had an extra gear, and that's Eric Gordon.

Without him waking up, we can squeeze through the first two rounds, but no matchup for this GS team. Gordon brought it, hitting the biggest shot in game 4 after going 0-7 from 3, did it again in game 5 after 2-9, AND played great defense. EG stepped up when it's needed the most.

I thought Gordon was pretty a&& last night... then he hit a couple big shots at the end... before that though he was bricking almost everything from 3 it felt like. Looking at the stats 3-10... I was frustrated with him actually... some big shots but still a poor performance before those big shots.

[Grillman]

So if the Rockets beat "the best team in history" does that mean the Rockets hold that title now? Lol

They would not.

[Jadoogar]

Still felt refs slanted everything they could to help rockets, within rules, even inbound location...that said wont blame them. Rockets played horrible and we didnt win, our own fault.

Look at the refs helping Houston here. How do they get away with this?!?!?

Watch on YouTube

[ken6199]

I've said this during the Minny series - Houston had an extra gear, and that's Eric Gordon.

Without him waking up, we can squeeze through the first two rounds, but no matchup for this GS team. Gordon brought it, hitting the biggest shot in game 4 after going 0-7 from 3, did it again in game 5 after 2-9, AND played great defense. EG stepped up when it's needed the most.

I thought Gordon was pretty a&& last night... then he hit a couple big shots at the end... before that though he was bricking almost everything from 3 it felt like. Looking at the stats 3-10... I was frustrated with him actually... some big shots but still a poor performance before those big shots.

Some of the stats are really fool's gold. You look at Klay, 8/14 shooting, 4/7 3pt, 57% FG overall, good? You just didn't feel his presence, but EG was everywhere.

Same for Harden. People blamed him for a terrible game. Sure, wasn't great, but he is a big reason (outside of Ariza) why KD disappeared in 2nd half. Harden was playing his ass off on the defensive end, and attacked the rim with assertion. Outside of his 11 missed 3s, he was 5/10 on FG, earned the trips to the free throw line when we couldn't buy a basket. The live feeling at the arena was Harden had zero shooting touch, but did everything else very well including setting up the go ahead EG 3. Overall he is +8, 2nd leading Houston player.

[nbafan38]

This is going to be 7 games that the Warriors win. This scenario is similar to OKC in 2016, except Durant should do the opposite of what he did in that series for the Warriors in this one (not choke when it counts).

Except this time game 7 for the warriors would be on the road so it's kind of different.

If a team wants to be great, winning a Game 7 WCF on the road is pivotal. The 2002 Lakers is a good example.

I agree with this and the warriors if they are who we think they are can and should win game 7 on the road but in a general sense winning game 7 on the road is one of the hardest things to do in basketball.

[ecogen]

Some of the stats are really fool's gold. You look at Klay, 8/14 shooting, 4/7 3pt, 57% FG overall, good? You just didn't feel his presence, but EG was everywhere.

Same for Harden. People blamed him for a terrible game. Sure, wasn't great, but he is a big reason (outside of Ariza) why KD disappeared in 2nd half. Harden was playing his ass off on the defensive end, and attacked the rim with assertion. Outside of his 11 missed 3s, he was 5/10 on FG, earned the trips to the free throw line when we couldn't buy a basket. The live feeling at the arena was Harden had zero shooting touch, but did everything else very well including setting up the go ahead EG 3. Overall he is +8, 2nd leading Houston player.

People like looking at boxscores without watching the game and drawing conclusions. Has Harden been amazing this series? No, but he has been more than solid. His defense has been great since game 2 and on, and while his offense yesterday was meh he single-handedly kept us in the game (and in the series) in the first half of game 4 when no one else could buy a bucket.

[alebaba]

Harden was likely the worst player on the floor for the Rockets last night. GGreen MIGHT have been worse. I am really impressed by the Rox ability to win a game like that with the MVP playing so poorly (offensively AND defensively). I thought they were clearly the better team and had clearly the better of play. Some TERRIBLE officiating kept the Warriors in it late and they missed a wild number of clean looks but the right team won. EJ, PJ, Cap, and Ariza were incredible in supporting roles. AWESOME defensively and all made big plays offensively.

Still, I'd be SHOCKED if the Rockets pulled this out. CP3 has had hamstring issues in the past. I cannot imagine it isn't a pretty severe one considering the biggest play of his life he couldn't even MOVE towards the right side of half court. Even a mild strain should keep him out for 4 days which would take him past G7. And frankly, they would have gotten DESTROYED the last two games without him. His impact on this team can't be overstated.

You clearly did not watch the game. Offensively, Harden was struggling but defensively he was good.

[Mamba Mentality]

I've said this during the Minny series - Houston had an extra gear, and that's Eric Gordon.

Without him waking up, we can squeeze through the first two rounds, but no matchup for this GS team. Gordon brought it, hitting the biggest shot in game 4 after going 0-7 from 3, did it again in game 5 after 2-9, AND played great defense. EG stepped up when it's needed the most.

Yeh he has been the x factor in this series. If the Rockets can get 20 out of him they're virtually impossible to beat.

[Joest2003]

Not saying the other guys are not playing hard but it just seems like CP3 wants this more than anyone else on the court.

[zshawn10]

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