With 5:50 remaining in the third quarter and Golden State facing a 29-point deficit on Wednesday, Warriors coach Steve Kerr executed a wholesale substitution of all five starters and opted to sit his frontline players for the remainder of Game 5 in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
The Houston Rockets extended their lead by a basket later and withstood a fourth-quarter rally from the Warriors’ reserves en route to a 131-116 victory that narrowed Golden State’s lead in the best-of-seven series to 3-2 and forced Game 6 on Friday in San Francisco.
The decision to punt on the result with nearly 18 minutes left to play was an interesting one. None of the Warriors’ starters played more than 26 minutes in the loss, with Golden State preemptively shifting its focus to a second opportunity to close out the resilient, youthful Rockets.
“Obviously, it’s not ideal to play that amount of minutes because if we’re winning, you play way more,” said Warriors forward Draymond Green, who logged just 18 minutes.
“But we (Kerr and the veterans) had a quick conversation (in the third) and he said, ‘I don’t think we should chase it,’ and I said, ‘Cool. We’ll give it five (or) six minutes and if we can’t turn it, pull the plug.'”
Beyond the hot start that enabled them to secure an 18-point lead in the first quarter, the Rockets put a stranglehold on Game 5 by capitalizing on their edge in athleticism. The Rockets ran early and often on offense and relentlessly pressured the Warriors on the defensive end.
Houston showed flashes of those traits in Games 3 and 4, but sustained success had been elusive.
“It feels like we’re getting more consistent recognition of what they’re doing throughout the series as it goes on,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “Trying to wear them down and taking away certain actions, and we did that. Try to make them make plays and not run their plays. If they have to beat us one-on-one, we feel that’s to our advantage.”
The Warriors still hold an overwhelming edge in playoff experience. Golden State suffered a 39-point road loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 5 of the 2022 Western Conference semifinal series, only to return to the Bay Area and eliminate the Grizzlies in the next game.
Given that type of history, it came as no surprise that the Warriors didn’t appear fazed by Wednesday’s defeat.
“There’s definitely something you can look back on as part of the journey, but that’s all well and great to talk about,” Warriors guard Stephen Curry said. “You have to go do something about it on the court.
“We talked about our group trying to do this for the first time together, and I love that challenge because we have an opportunity to write our own story in how we bounce back. We’ve had a pretty resilient group over the last two months, and it has to show on Friday.”
Resilience was on the Rockets’ side on Wednesday. For the second time in the series, youth was served.
“May not always get it right, (and) definitely far from perfect at times, but being able to bounce back and have a short-term memory is one of the best things about being a young team,” said veteran Rockets guard Fred VanVleet, who scored a game-high 26 points. “They don’t necessarily know what’s at stake all the time, so it could go good for you or it could go bad for you.
“We’ve played some good basketball in this series. The margin for error is so small that you don’t want to get carried away when you fall short. You’ve got to bounce back.”
–Field Level Media
