RealGM

Some of the game’s brightest stars will play to keep their season alive on Sunday night (8:30 ET, TNT), as the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors prepare for a climactic finale.

The Stakes: The Warriors are trying to become the seventh 7-seed to knock off a 2-seed since 1983-84, while Houston could become the 14th team to win a series after falling behind 3-1.

Being A Warrior: The Warriors were on both sides of a 3-1 comeback in 2016, as they fought back against OKC in the West Finals, then lost to the LeBron James-led Cavs in the NBA Finals

Out For 3: Only three teams have rallied from a 3-1 deficit on two occasions – the Rockets, Celtics and Nuggets. The Rockets can become the first franchise to do it three times



For Golden State, can the veteran core of Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler III and Draymond Green guide the Dubs into Round 2?
Classic Curry: In his last Game 7, Curry dropped 50 points on the road – as the Warriors will be tonight – to defeat the Sacramento Kings in the First Round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs

Shooting The Moon: Curry has a career average of 32.6 pts in five Game 7s, third highest in NBA history (min. 5 games)

Last Time: Curry scored 27 points to lead the Warriors past the Rockets in Game 7 of the 2018 West Finals in Houston

Experience Matters: The Warriors have a combined 19 Game 7 appearances, led by Curry (5), Green (5) and Butler III (4). The Rockets have 10, led by Jeff Green (4) and Fred VanVleet (3)


Houston will turn to VanVleet, Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson, who have caught fire as the Rockets lifted off in the series.

The Lead Guard: VanVleet has 25+ points in three straight Playoff games – the first Rocket to do that since James Harden in 2020

Stepping Up: After scoring 30 total points in the first three games of the series, Thompson’s put up 56 in the last three, plus nine steals



The Rockets have found success going big in the series, winning with Steven Adams and Sengun on the floor simultaneously.

A Houston Tower: Sengun is leading the Rockets in points, assists, rebounds and steals in the series

Legendary Company: Sengun joins Luka Dončić, Jayson Tatum and Magic Johnson as the only players to average 20/10/5 in a six-game span in the Playoffs before turning 23

Carrying The Weight: The Adams-Sengun duo is +39 in the series

“I just follow the game plan, bro,” Adams said about his defensive impact in the Rockets’ Game 6 win. “Just read, communicate.”
“We do a good job of rebounding, holding them to one shot,” Adams added

Watch the defensive battle in Game 7 as every possession becomes critical with both seasons on the line.

Butler’s Impact: After adding Butler III, the Warriors had the NBA's best defensive rating over their final 31 games of the season

Rocket Power: The Rockets came in with the fifth-best defensive rating throughout the entire season

Keep Possession: The Rockets are 3-1 when the Warriors have 14+ turnovers during the series. Houston’s averaging 18.2 ppg off turnovers – fourth-best in the Playoffs

Gusto1903 wrote:Hope Draymond gets in foul trouble early

Zeno wrote:Shame on the NBA for using Tony Brothers in a game 7. He was almost certainly one of the worst refs in the league this year. He falls for every trick and makes way too many calls. As a neutral observer, he tends to ruin games from an entertainment standpoint, though he's been a bit more restrained in the games I've watched so far. What I don't understand is that he was used almost exclusively in the 1 vs 8 or 2 vs 7 series early on which to me indicates that the NBA knows he is not very good, now here he is in a game 7. I was hoping that they would weed him out as the number of games waned. He was the ref in game 6 of the Knicks/Pistons too. hopefully this is his last game and he isn't too active...

KGDirkTD_Fan wrote:I expect to show up
Curry
Butler
Sengun
FVV
Thompson
Brooks

Will do fine
Eason
Jabari Smith Jr.
GP2
Moses Moody

I don't know
Podz
Looney
Hield
Jalen Green

Draymond Green - depending if he plays wrestling or basketball
Draymond Green

Kuminga
Kuminga

Probably missing someone in this but this is how I'm categorizing these players for game 7. Honestly a coin flip game but Houston should be able to take this home maybe even without a big Jalen Green game.

Kobe187 wrote:This is going to be a hard fought physical game, every position is going to be a dog fight, Houston has the advantage in sheer physical strength and should be able to outmuscle GS with their twin towers of power, Kerr has to find a way to handle Houston’s size and strength with more size, better rotations. Curry & Butler have to be amazing for GS to win. Should be a great game!