2025 NBA PLAYOFFS West First Round: #2 Houston Rockets vs #7 Golden State Warriors (Series tied 1-1)

[og15]

I like Warriors, but outside of Curry, Draymond, and Butler, the rest looks shaky. Buddy is not a reliable bench spark. Needed a better cast.

But the Rockets are woefully inexperienced. Van Vleet aint that guy. Sengun is good. Rockets might be the only matchup Warriors can beat.

Not a ton of teams are super solid outside of their top 3 guys, I'm not sure this is any special indictment on the Warriors

[Impuniti]

I like Warriors, but outside of Curry, Draymond, and Butler, the rest looks shaky. Buddy is not a reliable bench spark. Needed a better cast.

But the Rockets are woefully inexperienced. Van Vleet aint that guy. Sengun is good. Rockets might be the only matchup Warriors can beat.

They absolutely are. The issue right now is that offensively, absolutely nobody and I do mean nobody outside of Curry/Butler is relied on consistently on the offensive end. Podz, Mood are guys that can score 20-25 and then score 2 points the next game. A lot of the guys are better in terms of hustling, defense and some being creators, but offensively when it comes to shooting/scoring you're essentially playing a video game or gambling where you have no idea what you will get.

That's why it's tough to know what this team can achieve this post season.

[Soca]

I've never been that high on Jalen Green. I think he's closer to the microwave scorer off the bench archetype than a first or second option.

[durden_tyler]

I like Warriors, but outside of Curry, Draymond, and Butler, the rest looks shaky. Buddy is not a reliable bench spark. Needed a better cast.

But the Rockets are woefully inexperienced. Van Vleet aint that guy. Sengun is good. Rockets might be the only matchup Warriors can beat.

Podz 14
Moody 7
Payton 7

Those are their scoring, it’s not flashy and big but effective. But none are liability on the defensive end.

But sure, just look at the scoring and you’ll conclude the support squad is “shaky”.


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[cupcakesnake]

I think my favorite part of the game last night was after Houston had been dominating with their offensive rebounding, and the Warriors were like 'o crap we need to get as big as we possibly can right now'. For a brief spell (late 3rd, early 4th) the Warriors had a Curry/Podz/Buter/Looney/Post lineup! Then the Rockets just scoffed like: 'is this as big as you get?' before putting out: Green/Amen/Jabari/Sengun/Adams. Houston won those minutes handily.

It was insane in general how Steven Adams came in in the second half and completely controlled the game for a while. He's the perfect fit on a team that loves to miss shots. He didn't get abused defensively either.

[Impuniti]

I like Warriors, but outside of Curry, Draymond, and Butler, the rest looks shaky. Buddy is not a reliable bench spark. Needed a better cast.

But the Rockets are woefully inexperienced. Van Vleet aint that guy. Sengun is good. Rockets might be the only matchup Warriors can beat.

Podz 14
Moody 7
Payton 7

Those are their scoring, it’s not flashy and big but effective. But none are liability on the defensive end.

But sure, just look at the scoring and you’ll conclude the support squad is “shaky”.


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28 points on 24 shots for guys that are being left open for a lot of their shots is shaky at best. I don't get what is effective about this scoring.

[KGDirkTD_Fan]

You are the Houston Rockets. On the losing end of the Curry Warriors vs Harden Rockets rivalry. Move on from Harden & rebuild. Return back again with a new team years later. Still dealing with Curry in the post-season. Incredible

[Ice Man]

But sure, just look at the scoring and you’ll conclude the support squad is “shaky”.

I mean, it's pretty bad. The support squad's defense is good, but the Warriors have no third option offensively (unless Podz breaks out), no ballhandlers except Steph & Jimmy, and rotten rebounding.

[TrueFan420]

I like Warriors, but outside of Curry, Draymond, and Butler, the rest looks shaky. Buddy is not a reliable bench spark. Needed a better cast.

But the Rockets are woefully inexperienced. Van Vleet aint that guy. Sengun is good. Rockets might be the only matchup Warriors can beat.

Podz 14
Moody 7
Payton 7

Those are their scoring, it’s not flashy and big but effective. But none are liability on the defensive end.

But sure, just look at the scoring and you’ll conclude the support squad is “shaky”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

28 points on 24 shots for guys that are being left open for a lot of their shots is shaky at best. I don't get what is effective about this scoring.

Yea not have a clearly defined n3 scorer is problematic and likely keeps us from having a legit chance this year. The hope was JK could become that. He’s clearly on the outside looking in and will be moved in the summer.

Podz isn’t that guy. He may have nights but it’s just not his game. Same for Moody. Buddy’s far too inconsistent. All 3 could step up on a given night but we simply need more.

[azcatz11]

I like Warriors, but outside of Curry, Draymond, and Butler, the rest looks shaky. Buddy is not a reliable bench spark. Needed a better cast.

But the Rockets are woefully inexperienced. Van Vleet aint that guy. Sengun is good. Rockets might be the only matchup Warriors can beat.

Podz 14
Moody 7
Payton 7

Those are their scoring, it’s not flashy and big but effective. But none are liability on the defensive end.

But sure, just look at the scoring and you’ll conclude the support squad is “shaky”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Podz isn't good. I don't care what anyone says. He gets open looks and is a bad FT shooter. He is entirely replaceable from what I can see. Steph bails him out every game

[mademan]

This series is done. Rockets guards just cant create in the halfcourt and you just cant overcome that in the playoffs. Until they upgrade that position, theyre a 1 and done team. Green either has to take massive steps forward next season or they gotta make a play for someone like Book

[CS707]

I like Warriors, but outside of Curry, Draymond, and Butler, the rest looks shaky. Buddy is not a reliable bench spark. Needed a better cast.

But the Rockets are woefully inexperienced. Van Vleet aint that guy. Sengun is good. Rockets might be the only matchup Warriors can beat.

Podz 14
Moody 7
Payton 7

Those are their scoring, it’s not flashy and big but effective. But none are liability on the defensive end.

But sure, just look at the scoring and you’ll conclude the support squad is “shaky”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Podz isn't good. I don't care what anyone says. He gets open looks and is a bad FT shooter. He is entirely replaceable from what I can see. Steph bails him out every game

He's the weirdest blend of cocky and timid.

[Revived]

Rockets signed Jalen Green to a 3 yr $110 deal btw.

I am not well versed in his game but this is his first playoffs, lots of nerves. You have to give these guys time. Not everyone comes out the gate. I feel the same way about Jabari. Glad that Sengun is doing well.

You can check his regular season numbers…not worth $110 million either.

[Revived]

This series is done. Rockets guards just cant create in the halfcourt and you just cant overcome that in the playoffs. Until they upgrade that position, theyre a 1 and done team. Green either has to take massive steps forward next season or they gotta make a play for someone like Book

Their gonna trade for KD.

[cupcakesnake]

I like Warriors, but outside of Curry, Draymond, and Butler, the rest looks shaky. Buddy is not a reliable bench spark. Needed a better cast.

But the Rockets are woefully inexperienced. Van Vleet aint that guy. Sengun is good. Rockets might be the only matchup Warriors can beat.

Podz 14
Moody 7
Payton 7

Those are their scoring, it’s not flashy and big but effective. But none are liability on the defensive end.

But sure, just look at the scoring and you’ll conclude the support squad is “shaky”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Podz isn't good. I don't care what anyone says. He gets open looks and is a bad FT shooter. He is entirely replaceable from what I can see. Steph bails him out every game

Podz had a super rough start to the year, but besides that he's been a very dependable shooter. 38% from 3 last year, 37% this year (41% since he came back from injury in late January). He's more average than bad at free throws. His last 20 games, he went bonkers from 3 and was a big part of their late season surge.

I was rooting for Houston last night, and feared Podz a little. He's a tough, skilled, playmaker who competes on both ends. Really good defender and decision maker with just enough happening on offense to be interesting.

[floppymoose]

I think my favorite part of the game last night was after Houston had been dominating with their offensive rebounding, and the Warriors were like 'o crap we need to get as big as we possibly can right now'. For a brief spell (late 3rd, early 4th) the Warriors had a Curry/Podz/Buter/Looney/Post lineup! Then the Rockets just scoffed like: 'is this as big as you get?' before putting out: Green/Amen/Jabari/Sengun/Adams. Houston won those minutes handily.

It was insane in general how Steven Adams came in in the second half and completely controlled the game for a while. He's the perfect fit on a team that loves to miss shots. He didn't get abused defensively either.

Warriors fans are all over Kerr for not going bigger. WTF? The bigs got played off the floor.

[floppymoose]

I like Warriors, but outside of Curry, Draymond, and Butler, the rest looks shaky. Buddy is not a reliable bench spark. Needed a better cast.

But the Rockets are woefully inexperienced. Van Vleet aint that guy. Sengun is good. Rockets might be the only matchup Warriors can beat.

Podz 14
Moody 7
Payton 7

Those are their scoring, it’s not flashy and big but effective. But none are liability on the defensive end.

But sure, just look at the scoring and you’ll conclude the support squad is “shaky”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Podz isn't good. I don't care what anyone says. He gets open looks and is a bad FT shooter. He is entirely replaceable from what I can see. Steph bails him out every game

Cool. We’ll keep him, thanks.

[michaelm]

Podz 14
Moody 7
Payton 7

Those are their scoring, it’s not flashy and big but effective. But none are liability on the defensive end.

But sure, just look at the scoring and you’ll conclude the support squad is “shaky”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

28 points on 24 shots for guys that are being left open for a lot of their shots is shaky at best. I don't get what is effective about this scoring.

Yea not have a clearly defined n3 scorer is problematic and likely keeps us from having a legit chance this year. The hope was JK could become that. He’s clearly on the outside looking in and will be moved in the summer.

Podz isn’t that guy. He may have nights but it’s just not his game. Same for Moody. Buddy’s far too inconsistent. All 3 could step up on a given night but we simply need more.

2022 Jordan Poole would be quite handy.

[Optms]

I've never been that high on Jalen Green. I think he's closer to the microwave scorer off the bench archetype than a first or second option.

Houston's ceiling is capped as long as he is the go to scorer. A shame because I like this squad.

[Optms]

This series is done. Rockets guards just cant create in the halfcourt and you just cant overcome that in the playoffs. Until they upgrade that position, theyre a 1 and done team. Green either has to take massive steps forward next season or they gotta make a play for someone like Book

Their gonna trade for KD.

Not high on KD because he offers no leadership value but in his sleep he is better than Jalen Green. Rockets are legitimate contenders even with a 37 year old KD.