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

[BayArea408415]

Rather have Barnes out there atleast he doesnt take shots away from Curry and Thompson.

from a marketing perspective that was a great move but boy i liked gsw much better with barnes

This wasn't the sentiment when he was bricking open shots in the finals or when GS ran through the league last season.

Barnes was trash. I’m glad he left. However, Warriors would have been fine if they had a guy like Horford or Millsap replace Barnes instead of Durant.

I think most of the fan base appreciates Durant but a lot of us prefer the older playstyle over the more iso reliant one being used right now. It’s not all on Durant though. The team has been very inconsistent offensively. Especially Green and Klay.

[xfactor99]

Saying that Barnes would be better for the team than KD is the worst overreaction I have seen yet. C'mon guys.

[LofJ]

May the best team win. I dislike both teams equally well to not support one over the other. But I hope Paul recovers, even though I dislike him for being a dirty player despite all his talent, I think he has done enough over the years to deserve a break and perhaps a shot at a ring. Because one thing is for sure, next season another super team will be formed in the West and there is no guarantees the Rockets will be back and in the coming seasons there is no guarantee that the playoffs structure will remain the same.

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.

[og15]

from a marketing perspective that was a great move but boy i liked gsw much better with barnes

This wasn't the sentiment when he was bricking open shots in the finals or when GS ran through the league last season.

Barnes was trash. I’m glad he left. However, Warriors would have been fine if they had a guy like Horford or Millsap replace Barnes instead of Durant.

I think most of the fan base appreciates Durant but a lot of us prefer the older playstyle over the more iso reliant one being used right now. It’s not all on Durant though. The team has been very inconsistent offensively. Especially Green and Klay.

Understandable, but I maintain that too many Warriors fans are failing to realize and then give credit to the Rockets defense for forcing and baiting them to play this way. It's not just Durant randomly going off script, the Rockets are making it hard for the Warriors to get what they want, and Curry himself is out there going to isolation.

[Lebron45]

when harden attemps more than 10 3s rockets won he should attemp as many as he can

[BayArea408415]

Understandable, but I maintain that too many Warriors fans are failing to realize and then give credit to the Rockets defense for forcing and baiting them to play this way. It's not just Durant randomly going off script, the Rockets are making it hard for the Warriors to get what they want, and Curry himself is out there going to isolation.

It’s probably a combination of things. Rockets’ excellent switching defense, Kerr encouraging and allowing so much iso and just an overall change in play style. Curry’s game used to involve so much off ball movement and cutting and now he’s often copying Durant’s iso hero ball. The team is so stagnant and spend so much time giving it to Durant and proceeding to ball watch. Last year’s Finals team looked far different.

[Freefloater]

Rather have Barnes out there atleast he doesnt take shots away from Curry and Thompson.

from a marketing perspective that was a great move but boy i liked gsw much better with barnes

This wasn't the sentiment when he was bricking open shots in the finals or when GS ran through the league last season.

this was always my sentiment...the only advantage i see in getting durant is you have another superstar if one is injured...

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Good to see the rockets giving all the warriors all they can handle but the Warriors are winning this in 7 especially with Paul hobbled and possibly out for the rest of the series.

[Triple M]

The Warriors looked like the OKC Thunder the last 2 games

[og15]

from a marketing perspective that was a great move but boy i liked gsw much better with barnes

This wasn't the sentiment when he was bricking open shots in the finals or when GS ran through the league last season.

this was always my sentiment...the only advantage i see in getting durant is you have another superstar if one is injured...

That's a great advantage though, but you were likely in the very, very small minority

[Andri]

As a Utah fan, nobody is givin the respect Houston's defense deserves.

They force to play ISO and take lower % shots. Snyder (great coach) tried during all series to change that, and although he did some adjustements he failed. Probably we lacked of the people to succed or overcome what Houston does.

I feel that the first game GSW won was an outlier, because they made very dificult shots (that's what can happen with Durant, Curry and co), and by the odds, series could be ended by now.

In the end, the series has been played as Houston likes and wants, and if there has been any adjustment from Kerr, it is still to be noticed.

[letsgobulls23]

Saying that Barnes would be better for the team than KD is the worst overreaction I have seen yet. C'mon guys.

Could not agree more, GS doesn't win the title last year without KD. I'm not sure what's wrong with them right now, and KD isn't without fault, but that's a terrible take on this team. Barnes was garbage.

I do miss the ball movement GSW, I think everyone can see that this ISO style of offense isn't working at all. You'd think Kerr would be able to get that under control and have them run some real offense. Houston just looks like the better team right now.

[GrandTheftRondo]

Durant's isolating isn't helping the Warriors, but the fans saying they'd rather Harrison Barnes. Get a **** grip. Curry was obviously ordinary in the 2016 finals, but Harrison Barnes was just as bad if not worse. All he needed to do was hit some wide open threes and they win the title. The Cavs by the end of the series were barely bothering to close him out.

You put Barnes on that team last season and that series is going longer and the Cavs are a big chance of repeating.

Durant needs to read the defence better. It's been a flaw of his in the playoffs all his career from what I can remember. He has huge games but then other games where he just doesn't seem to understand that him taking every shot he can get isn't the best thing for the team. Even with his height, if I'm defending the Warriors I'd much rather Durant shooting contested 16 footers over me rather than him driving hard to the basket to score/create for others or him playing off ball and draining threes.

Some credit also needs to be given to the Rockets though. They looked miles off it in game 1, yet they've fought back hard and are playing fantastic basketball on both ends, even with Harden struggling at times. They've clearly realised Durant isolations are beneficial for them long-term in a game, even if Durant will make some tough shots.

[SlowPaced]

Make no mistake, if the Warriors lose this series, it doesn't mean they didn't ruin the competition. It means they choked in a catastrophic manner. They clearly are the better team and simply aren't playing up to their level.

Go Rockets.

They aren’t because of Houston’s defense.

Houston was underrated coming in to this series.

GSW is now backed against the wall and may have completely lucked out due to CP3.

I think Warriors are shooting themselves in the foot by sticking to their motion offense and using isolation as the backup plan. They have the pick 'n' roll weapon under their sleeve but they simply don't use it. Steph - Draymond pick 'n' roll was deadly in 2015 and 2016. Steph - KD is an even more unstoppable two-man game duo.

Full credit to the Rockets for being able to contain the motion offense. But Warriors' failure to adjust is big.

[And1+2]

No Iggy, big problem.

[10DayContract]

As a Utah fan, nobody is givin the respect Houston's defense deserves.

They force to play ISO and take lower % shots. Snyder (great coach) tried during all series to change that, and although he did some adjustements he failed. Probably we lacked of the people to succed or overcome what Houston does.

I feel that the first game GSW won was an outlier, because they made very dificult shots (that's what can happen with Durant, Curry and co), and by the odds, series could be ended by now.

In the end, the series has been played as Houston likes and wants, and if there has been any adjustment from Kerr, it is still to be noticed.

Exactly. Durant was brought to this team for these types of games and series. He's the only person on GS who can consistenly get good looks off the dribble. It basically comes down to whether or not he can play like he did in Game 1.

If he plays like 97 Jordan, they win.

[HotTubMike]

No Iggy, big problem.

No iggy, no party.

[Madhouse]

I still don't feel confident in the Rockets. It's better than I expected but they need Harden to be absolutely lethal the next 1-2 games to pull this off.

[Ugalde]

Any news on Chris Paul yet?

[HurricaneKid]

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.