Big difference
Warriors ratchet up effort sans Curry; Rockets stand idly by as opportunity to steal Game 4 vanishes in a flash
While the Warriors ratchet up the intensity when Stephen Curry goes down, the Rockets stand idly by.
Stephen Curry was out. The game was tied. The firstround series in which the Rockets had sought to pull off perhaps the greatest playoff upset in NBA history was ready to dramatically spin in one direction or the other.
The time had come to be measured, the game and perhaps the series to be decided. The Warriors hit the Rockets with everything they could manage, from determination that was off the charts to the most prolific 3-point shooting ever in the NBA playoffs.
The Rockets crumbled, unable or perhaps even unwilling to stand up to the onslaught.
The Rockets took their second-half beating Sunday, powerless to stop it until the Warriors’ 121-94 rout sent the Rockets to the second-largest playoff loss in franchise history and the series back to Oakland, Calif., with Golden State leading 3-1.
Only nine teams have come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a series, but Warriors players quickly brought up the Rockets’ rally against the Clippers in last season’s second round.
But the Rockets sounded as if they had obstacles nearly as formidable as the Warriors.
“The only way we can overcome it is if we believe in each other and don’t quit on each other,” center Dwight Howard said. “That’s the only way and it’s easier said than done. For us to beat this team, we have to put aside anything, egos and pride, and play for each other.”
That seemed to hint at much more than the Warriors’ record-setting 21 3-pointers, but even with Curry hitting just one before a sprained knee ended his day at halftime, the Rockets believed their reaction to the barrage was as damaging as the shooting itself.
“When the moment calls for us to raise our intensity levels, we dropped our guard,” interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “You could see the difference in the way that they played in that third quarter, how they scrapped, how they got every loose ball. You could see the intent in their guys’ eyes.
“They knew one of their guys was down and they were going to raise the level of play.
“The moment when we needed to match that intensity, we didn’t do it.”
Flaws masked for while
The Rockets were down their point guard, too, but when the Warriors became inspired, the Rockets were unable to replace Pat Beverley’s tenacity.
Beverley played just 16 minutes before ruled out with a strained right leg. The Rockets had moved the ball well enough in the first half to hit 51.4 percent of their shots, even while making just 2 of 13 3s while committing 13 turnovers.
Those f ailings might have hinted at what was to come. But everything came apart when the Warriors pounced to start the second half, exposing the Rockets’ f amiliar issues and shortcomings.
Klay Thompson hit 3s — and the Rockets could not get on loose balls.
Draymond Green scored inside — and the Rockets hoisted early 3-pointers.
Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston knocked down midrange jumpers — and the Rockets could not rebound, or get back defensively, or take care of the ball. The more the Warriors’ lead expanded, the more the Rockets panicked, never matching the Warriors’ intensity.
“Terrible way, terrible way, terrible way to lose,” Rockets guard James Harden said. “The third quarter … it was a breakdown that led to 41 points. That’s way too many points. It was loose-ball opportunities, rebounds and things like that.
“We get those basketballs and we’re out in transition. They get those balls and they get open 3s. That’s the difference in the game. And that’s what ended the game right there.”
Spirals out of control
The Rockets might have been in danger of the collapse all along. They scored well enough in the first half to hide the issues that would eventually beat them. But the signs were there before the collapse turned a bad stretch into a bench-clearing, get-out-the-record-books romp.
“When teams are getting to the ball quicker than we are, they want it more,” guard Jason Terry said. “That happened all night long.
“They wanted it more than we did. They played harder on both ends of the floor. I know what happened. They wanted the game. We didn’t. They won it. Now we have to go out there and want the game more than they do.”