What we learned as Warriors blown out by Rockets in Game 5, forcing Game 6
The Golden State Warriors were run out of Toyota Center in the first half Wednesday and couldn't recover as they lost to the Houston Rockets.
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What we learned as Warriors blown out by Rockets in Game 5, forcing Game 6 originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
HOUSTON – Exactly two years ago to the date, Steph Curry scored 50 points in Game 7 of the Warriors’ first-round NBA playoff series against the Sacramento Kings, lifting Golden State to the second round.
Wednesday night in Houston was nothing like that. Instead, it resembled a night to forget on May 11, 2022, when the Warriors were waxed by the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 5 of their second-round series, trailing by 55 points and ultimately losing by 39.
Holding a three-games-to-one series lead, as they did in that Memphis series, the Warriors were mostly dominated by the Rockets, losing 131-116 in Game 5 at the Toyota Center on Wednesday. They were down by as much as 31 points before the bench battled back in the second half.
After leading 8-7 two minutes into the game, the Warriors never led the rest of the way. The Rockets played like a team with their backs against the wall, and the Warriors couldn’t match their energy. Early foul trouble hurt the Warriors mightily, helping put them in a hole far too wide to climb out of.
Steph Curry (13 points) and Jimmy Butler (eight points) combined to score a lowly 21 points. Curry was 4 of 12 from the field and 3 of 9 on threes. Butler went 2 of 10 overall and missed all three of his 3-point attempts. Yet through the first three quarters, Curry still was the Warriors’ leading scorer.
This always felt like a series bound to go at least six games, and now the Warriors will look to close the door Friday night at Chase Center in Game 6.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ Game 5 loss.
Offense Goes Awry
No Batman, no Robin and no Alfred either. It was that kind of night for the Warriors’ offense.
Curry didn’t score his first points until he made a three halfway through the second quarter. Those three points cut the Warriors’ deficit to 23 points, 55-32. Butler’s first points came from a free throw with four and a half minutes left in the first half, making it a 22-point game. He missed his first six shots, finally getting a layup to fall on a three-point play late in the second quarter.
The only Warriors starters to even score in the first quarter were Draymond Green with five points and Brandin Podziemski with three. Buddy Hield remained scoreless on three shot attempts going into halftime.
For the second straight game, the Warriors struggled to find any offensive flow against the Rockets’ two-big lineup when they went to a zone defense. Their lack of players who can dribble through it was clear, as was Butler being hampered by his pelvic injury. It’s a problem the Warriors will have to fix in a hurry.
Flipping The Free-Throw Line
Within the first four-plus minutes of the game, the Warriors already were whistled for five fouls, including two on Curry, putting the Rockets in the bonus and at the free-throw line. Through the first four games, the charity stripe was a nightmare for Houston. Not Wednesday night back on its homecourt, though.
The Warriors found themselves in a 16-point hole after the first quarter, largely because of the difference in fouls and free throws. While the Rockets were only called for three fouls and went a perfect 13 of 13 on free throws in the first quarter, the Warriors were called for nine fouls and didn’t attempt a single free throw. Steve Kerr used eight players in the first quarter, and Podziemski was the only one who didn’t have a foul to his name.
At halftime, with the Warriors down 76-49, the Rockets had twice as many free throw attempts and had scored 10 more points at the line. But Golden State at that point also only had two more fouls than Houston – 14 to 12. The Rockets in the first four games of the series were shooting 63.2 percent (60 of 95) on free throws, and shot 84.2 percent (32 of 38) in Game 5.
Blaming the referees is a waste. The Rockets came out as the more desperate team, and simply made their free throws this time.
Silver Linings
Were there any? Let’s take a look.
As the starting five couldn’t buy a bucket, the Warriors’ bench in the first quarter outscored the Rockets 16-0. Quinten Post came in and immediately made a three. Same with Gui Santos.
Halfway through the third quarter, Kerr waved the white flag for the Warriors, bringing in Pat Spencer, Moses Moody, Kevin Knox, Santos and Post. That certainly isn’t a silver lining, but there quickly were positives to the matter.
Moody wound up as the Warriors’ leading scorer with 25 points off the bench. The Warriors’ reserves absolutely played their tails off, forcing Rockets coach Ime Udoka to bring his starters back in when it was a 17-point game with a little under eight minutes remaining in the game. They showed a resilient amount of effort and fight, literally — as Spencer was ejected for headbutting center Alperen Şengün — finishing with 76 bench points – the Warriors’ most ever in a playoff game since 1970-71.
In that 2022 Game 5 loss to the Grizzlies, Curry played 25 minutes and Green played 23. In Wednesday’s Game 5 blowout loss, Curry only played 23 minutes and Green played 18. Butler’s night was done after 25 minutes.
The Warriors three years ago regrouped, came home and beat the Grizzlies by 14 points. They’ll have to hope that rest for their Big Three is exactly what’s needed for history to repeat itself in a positive way.
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