2025 NBA PLAYOFFS West First Round: #2 Houston Rockets vs #7 Golden State Warriors (Series tied 3-3, Game 7 Sunday!)

[MoreyWins]

Completely disagree. You're acting like the Warriors were the favorites coming into the series. They were literally the underdogs. Curry is 37 years old. The fact they went up 3-1 is more of an indictment on the Rockets considering they're clearly the better team. Warriors are so undersized in this series that it's almost unimaginable that this series is even going 7 games. This should've been a sweep, and likely would've been had Udoka made adjustments earlier in the series and gone to his Jumbo Package in Game 1 instead of waiting til Game 5. Or Had Jalen Green just not completely sh** the bed by scoring single-digits in 3 out of the first 4 games.

By your own logic, Lebron's legacy should take a huge hit since he's lost in the 1st Round of the Playoffs 3 out of the last 4 years.

They were favored... You're lying for no reason.

Miss me with the arbitrary Vegas betting odds. The 7th-Seed is never favored over the 2nd-Seed when both teams are healthy.

You can look at the series predictions from any media outlet of your choice, majority of them took the Warriors because of their playoff experience. You can look at the series prediction in the first Rockets-Warriors series thread, and the Warriors were heavily favored.

[HardenGoat]

Completely disagree. You're acting like the Warriors were the favorites coming into the series. They were literally the underdogs. Curry is 37 years old. The fact they went up 3-1 is more of an indictment on the Rockets considering they're clearly the better team. Warriors are so undersized in this series that it's almost unimaginable that this series is even going 7 games. This should've been a sweep, and likely would've been had Udoka made adjustments earlier in the series and gone to his Jumbo Package in Game 1 instead of waiting til Game 5. Or Had Jalen Green just not completely sh** the bed by scoring single-digits in 3 out of the first 4 games.

By your own logic, Lebron's legacy should take a huge hit since he's lost in the 1st Round of the Playoffs 3 out of the last 4 years.

They were favored... You're lying for no reason.

Miss me with the arbitrary Vegas betting odds. The 7th-Seed is never favored over the 2nd-Seed when both teams are healthy. Get real. The Warriors are so massively undersized that this series should've been a sweep. The only reason is wasn't is because it took Ime Udoka 5 games to realize that the Warriors literally don't have a Center and that his team is much bigger than theirs. Jalen Green being a total scrub outside of Game 2 certainly didn't help either.

You have the math wrong and Vegas had their odds for a reason. Since the Butler trade they were 23 - 8. More importantly they were 21 - 5 when both Butler and Curry played in the games. That equates to a 62 win team which is better than the Rockets. They were literally the real 2 seed as constructed. Rockets are just a bad matchup for them and hitting a gear they can’t match right now physically.

[2weekswithpay]

Read on Twitter

6 games into the series, and the Warriors have not found an answer for the Rockets' zone defense and Steven Adams. Adams might be the most impactful player in a series that has Butler and Curry. The Warriors can't get him off the glass, Adams has been a wall at the rim, and because of the zone, Adams doesn't have to defend in space. The Hack-a-Adams strategy was a desperate attempt by Kerr to get Udoka to take Adams out of the game.

[OfficialRef]

Bet your life savings on Warriors in 7.

[cpower]

Top players for each team by net rating (50 MP minimum):

Rockets: Steven Adams +20.2, Alperen Sengun +8.8

Warriors: Kevon Looney +2.9, Stephen Curry -1.4

Rockets’ size is killing Golden State. The only way they can possibly survive is to counter the size with size. When Adams comes into the game, Kerr has to counter with Looney or even possibly even Trayce Jackson Davis. You’re not gonna win giving up 50% of offensive rebounds.

Warriors can’t score at all in the half court if they put Looney out there. They have to always have shooters.

Not really , they have 123 Ortg with Looney and 109 without him. Their small ball simply do not work

[Exp0sed]

They were one of the hottest teams after getting Butler, their seed doesn’t tell the whole story. Plus Minnesota is better than the Rockets and will beat them if they meet. Blowing a 3-1 lead is worse than anything else.

And the Rockets were on their way to 60 wins when they were hit by the injury bug



Sent from my SM-A055F using RealGM mobile app

I still don't believe in the Rockets. They had a bunch of lucky wins such as against Cavs, a perfect FT miss tip in, OT vs Wolves, etc. Given that fortune favors the brave and they do create a lot of those ops, I think their luck is going to run out soon.

they def have their flaws, idk what u mean by "don't believe" do u mean u don't believe they can go all the way this season? yeah, probably not but they're a really tough matchup for this Warriors team, which isn't that great to begin with (also very flawed) but would have a better shot vs. some of the other Western teams imo

[cpower]

They were one of the hottest teams after getting Butler, their seed doesn’t tell the whole story. Plus Minnesota is better than the Rockets and will beat them if they meet. Blowing a 3-1 lead is worse than anything else.

And the Rockets were on their way to 60 wins when they were hit by the injury bug



Sent from my SM-A055F using RealGM mobile app

I still don't believe in the Rockets. They had a bunch of lucky wins such as against Cavs, a perfect FT miss tip in, OT vs Wolves, etc. Given that fortune favors the brave and they do create a lot of those ops, I think their luck is going to run out soon.

They can just blitz Curry all night and betting others to beat them.. Podz = 11 pt on 50%TS, Buddy = 7 pts on 46%TS. Nobody is scared of them. This warriors offense is just too flawed even somehow winning a g7, will be swept by wolves or okc.

[Blame Rasho]

This is the changing of the guard or the last hurrah type game. We will see what happens. I fully expected for the warriors to have won game 6.

[Harry Palmer]

I’ve missed why this is a debate and what the point is, but the Warriors were pretty heavily favoured in this series, that’s indisputable. Hell, they might still be.

[KGDirkTD_Fan]

And the Rockets were on their way to 60 wins when they were hit by the injury bug



Sent from my SM-A055F using RealGM mobile app

I still don't believe in the Rockets. They had a bunch of lucky wins such as against Cavs, a perfect FT miss tip in, OT vs Wolves, etc. Given that fortune favors the brave and they do create a lot of those ops, I think their luck is going to run out soon.

They can just blitz Curry all night and betting others to beat them.. Podz = 11 pt on 50%TS, Buddy = 7 pts on 46%TS. Nobody is scared of them. This warriors offense is just too flawed even somehow winning a g7, will be swept by wolves or okc.

He basically has to overcome the blitz and put up an iconic Curry game to take game 7 much like last year. Jimmy is there and he might get his buckets/FTA but there's not much else.

I really struggle to understand what people are seeing in this Warriors team to believe they are some kind of dark horse candidates. They are either losing this series or the next one and that's their run. Curry is 37 and this is not 2017 nor are they playing last year's Kings.

[CoP]

Will people **** on Curry after he blows a 3-1 lead like they did LeBron after losing to the T-Wolves or nah?

Lakers were the 3-Seed. They were supposed to win. Warriors are the 7-seed, they're supposed to lose. Only reason Warriors were up 3-1 is because Jalen Green sh** the bed 3 out of the first 4 games and Udoka wasn't playing his jumbo lineups the first 3 games. Houston very likely sweeps this series if he had. Warriors are just way too small.

Not hugely relevant considering there was just a 2-game difference between the 3rd and 8th seeds

[cpower]

I still don't believe in the Rockets. They had a bunch of lucky wins such as against Cavs, a perfect FT miss tip in, OT vs Wolves, etc. Given that fortune favors the brave and they do create a lot of those ops, I think their luck is going to run out soon.

They can just blitz Curry all night and betting others to beat them.. Podz = 11 pt on 50%TS, Buddy = 7 pts on 46%TS. Nobody is scared of them. This warriors offense is just too flawed even somehow winning a g7, will be swept by wolves or okc.

He basically has to overcome the blitz and put up an iconic Curry game to take game 7 much like last year. Jimmy is there and he might get his buckets/FTA but there's not much else.

I really struggle to understand what people are seeing in this Warriors team to believe they are some kind of dark horse candidates. They are either losing this series or the next one and that's their run. Curry is 37 and this is not 2017 nor are they playing last year's Kings.

It's all media hype and nothing else, people dont understand what it takes to win games in this NBA.. you need shooting, 5 all out. Even in 2022 Curry had Klay Poole Wiggins.. Poole Wiggins gives you 35 a game in playoffs that has been downgraded to Podz/Moody that gives you 20 a game on worse shooting. This is just not going to work unless somehow we can limit every team to 100 pts a game which is unheard of.

[Harry Palmer]

Read on Twitter

6 games into the series, and the Warriors have not found an answer for the Rockets' zone defense and Steven Adams. Adams might be the most impactful player in a series that has Butler and Curry. The Warriors can't get him off the glass, Adams has been a wall at the rim, and because of the zone, Adams doesn't have to defend in space. The Hack-a-Adams strategy was a desperate attempt by Kerr to get Udoka to take Adams out of the game.

Tactically, the interesting thing is that the most obvious way to get Adams off the floor would be to run him off, but that would be playing into the Rockets’ strength. I’d imagine Kerr will try and do so in spurts hoping to catch the Rockets off guard and then reset to the halfcourt pace. I’d also imagine he’ll try some more unusual lineups looking for something that clicks. But the best hope is one or more of the role players getting hot and/or Curry gets open just enough and plays like the generational player he is. I’d say Butler too, but it’s hard to imagine him getting even more whistles and/or crazy makes than he got in game 6.

Honestly don’t understand why anyone is talking about this like it’s ‘over’ for either team. Both have multiple plausible paths to victory.

Edit: as a Rockets fan, one wrinkle to worry about is the possessions last game where the Dubs got Curry isolated against Adams in space. If Kerr can replicate that a lot more that’d get Adams off the floor.

[MoreyWins]

Top players for each team by net rating (50 MP minimum):

Rockets: Steven Adams +20.2, Alperen Sengun +8.8

Warriors: Kevon Looney +2.9, Stephen Curry -1.4

Rockets’ size is killing Golden State. The only way they can possibly survive is to counter the size with size. When Adams comes into the game, Kerr has to counter with Looney or even possibly even Trayce Jackson Davis. You’re not gonna win giving up 50% of offensive rebounds.

Warriors can’t score at all in the half court if they put Looney out there. They have to always have shooters.

Not really , they have 123 Ortg with Looney and 109 without him. Their small ball simply do not work

The sample size for that is so small that I kind of want to throw it away. He's played 54 minutes so far this series. In 29 minutes with Moody and Looney on the floor, the Warriors have a 133 ORTG shooting 58% from two as a team. That doesn't seem sustainable or real tbh. In the regular season, that duo played 367 minutes with an ORTG of 109 shooting 46% from two. In 43 minutes with Curry and Looney this series, the Warriors have an ORTG of 132 and DRTG of 136. Both seem like very fake numbers.

[cpower]

Warriors can’t score at all in the half court if they put Looney out there. They have to always have shooters.

Not really , they have 123 Ortg with Looney and 109 without him. Their small ball simply do not work

The sample size for that is so small that I kind of want to throw it away. He's played 54 minutes so far this series. In 29 minutes with Moody and Looney on the floor, the Warriors have a 133 ORTG shooting 58% from two as a team. That doesn't seem sustainable or real tbh. In the regular season, that duo played 367 minutes with an ORTG of 109 shooting 46% from two. In 43 minutes with Curry and Looney this series, the Warriors have an ORTG of 132 and DRTG of 136. Both seem like very fake numbers.

just play him, we cant score as small lineup anyway. Lets have a dogfight and make it a low scoring g7.

[Exp0sed]

Not really , they have 123 Ortg with Looney and 109 without him. Their small ball simply do not work

The sample size for that is so small that I kind of want to throw it away. He's played 54 minutes so far this series. In 29 minutes with Moody and Looney on the floor, the Warriors have a 133 ORTG shooting 58% from two as a team. That doesn't seem sustainable or real tbh. In the regular season, that duo played 367 minutes with an ORTG of 109 shooting 46% from two. In 43 minutes with Curry and Looney this series, the Warriors have an ORTG of 132 and DRTG of 136. Both seem like very fake numbers.

just play him, we cant score as small lineup anyway. Lets have a dogfight and make it a low scoring g7.

I agree, if Kerr is going to try more of the same the Dubs will lose tonight. Looney has heart and Adams has the highest +- on the Rockets this series, how about playing somebody with some size and strength to counter that?

[MoreyWins]

Watch on YouTube

[powerball1373]

I mean, an L is an L but is 3 wins more than 1 or nah?

…and Steph’s team is a 7th seed going up against a 2 with Jimmy Butler as his best running mate.

Bron’s team was a 3 going against a lower 6th seed with his best running mate one of the best players and playoff performers in the game. Nice try Bron stans.

They were one of the hottest teams after getting Butler, their seed doesn’t tell the whole story. Plus Minnesota is better than the Rockets and will beat them if they meet. Blowing a 3-1 lead is worse than anything else.

Lol cope harder.

[Exp0sed]

Read on Twitter

6 games into the series, and the Warriors have not found an answer for the Rockets' zone defense and Steven Adams. Adams might be the most impactful player in a series that has Butler and Curry. The Warriors can't get him off the glass, Adams has been a wall at the rim, and because of the zone, Adams doesn't have to defend in space. The Hack-a-Adams strategy was a desperate attempt by Kerr to get Udoka to take Adams out of the game.

the numbers don't lie

Adams has been so pivotal because of the downstream effect his presence creates.for example because the Warriors don't have many offensive weapons and have poor spacing, their half-court offense obviously isn't very good. because of the Rockets offensive rebounding (spearheaded by Adams) - the Dubs are forced to hang back and put multiple bodies on him, which means they get out very slowly and have to rely on their half-court offense which like i said, isn't any good

[MoreyWins]

Read on Twitter

6 games into the series, and the Warriors have not found an answer for the Rockets' zone defense and Steven Adams. Adams might be the most impactful player in a series that has Butler and Curry. The Warriors can't get him off the glass, Adams has been a wall at the rim, and because of the zone, Adams doesn't have to defend in space. The Hack-a-Adams strategy was a desperate attempt by Kerr to get Udoka to take Adams out of the game.

the numbers don't lie

Adams has been so pivotal because of the downstream effect his presence creates.for example because the Warriors don't have many offensive weapons and have poor spacing, their half-court offense obviously isn't very good. because of the Rockets offensive rebounding (spearheaded by Adams) - the Dubs are forced to hang back and put multiple bodies on him, which means they get out very slowly and have to rely on their half-court offense which like i said, isn't any good

The counter I've seen Warriors fans bring up is to play Looney and JK more minutes to counteract the rebounding of the Rockets, but I think that'll just fall into Houston's favor because of the half court offensive issues they present in the zone.