Now Warriors have reason to be nervous
Quite suddenly, there’s a trace of self-doubt in the Warriors’ mood. Heading to Houston for Thursday night’s Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, they’ll have some difficulty replacing it with the same old swagger.
To cast a doom-and-gloom indictment upon the Warriors would be a mistake, just as it would be foolish to predict anything the rest of the way. This series is vibrant and alive, two NBA heavyweights dead even at 2-2 after the Rockets’ shocking 95-92 victory at Oracle Arena on Tuesday night. This was everyone’s dream matchup as the regular season unfolded, and it has arrived — finally — in a manner that has captured the nation’s full attention.
The dominant topic of the off-day, however, will be a Golden State team that slipped out of character under the pressure of Houston’s stifling defense. A team that couldn’t hit the big shots when it counted, looked a bit confused at the exact wrong time, and was clearly fatigued by the finish.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not at Oracle, where the Warriors had appeared to be unbeatable, and especially not after their blistering 18-3 third-quarter run appeared to put the Rockets away — for the evening and perhaps for the
summer.
Imagine the atmosphere inside Toyota Center for Game 5. The Rockets’ dominant season has come back into focus, purely validated until further notice. If they can play with the force and conviction they showed in Game 2 on their home court, beating the Warriors by 22 points, they’ll have a 3-2 lead in the series and give Bay Area fans that sense of excruciating anxiety they haven’t felt since the 2016 Finals against Cleveland went so terribly wrong.
Things will look a lot better in Houston if Andre Iguodala returns from his knee contusion, and if Klay Thompson shakes off the knee injury that briefly sent him to the locker room Tuesday night. By the end of this game, coach Steve Kerr was down to a seven-man rotation — trusting only Shaun Livingston and Jordan Bell off the bench — as noticeable exhaustion pervaded his squad.
Draymond Green played 45 minutes, Kevin Durant 43 — and there wasn’t a single excuse in order, because the Rockets used only seven men, period. James Harden, Chris Paul, PJ Tucker and Trevor Ariza all played 40-plus minutes, and as a group, they delivered the kind of clutch performance that many observers felt was beyond their capability.
The Warriors have to realize now that Paul, despite a completely vacant first quarter that left the distinct impression he was hurt, is determined to shake all those bitter memories about watching big playoff games from home. He gave his team a vital taste of life with a trio of three-pointers in the second quarter, finishing with 27 points and giving the impression he was completely in charge.
Whatever the Warriors dream up, they won’t be able to stop Harden. Not completely. His shooting numbers looked awful (11-for-26, 3-for-12 from three-point range), but the man just keeps coming, and his 30 points represented the only numbers that mattered.
In the end, Houston’s defense made the essential difference. Even Harden chimed in with back-to-back steals that led to baskets, and the Warriors’ heralded shooters spent most of the evening under duress. “I thought this is the highest level we’ve ever played defensively, without a doubt,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Because you’re talking about maybe the best offensive team ever.”
When it came down to the Warriors’ game-deciding possession, swarming Rockets were everywhere. Durant probably didn’t have to surrender the ball, but he did, and when Thompson got it in the left corner, he was trapped beyond redemption. Ariza was all over Thompson as he missed a difficult, 16-foot turnaround fadeaway with two seconds left.
“We stuck our nose into the dirt,” Ariza said of the defense in general. “When we’re locked into what we’re doing, we’re a really good defensive team. We’re a really good team, period. Now we’ve got to continue to stay locked in and trust each other.”
What’s interesting is that, more often than not, the Warriors were forced into the kind of isolation offense that characterizes the Rockets’ strategy. This game turned into “trench warfare,” as Kerr said. “Everybody grinding it out. Lots of isolation. I guess this is the modern NBA.”
Kerr drew some laughter with that remark. The Warriors play the beautiful game, leaving coaches across America in envy, but things can change in the playoffs. For one night, anyway, the Rockets’ methodology made perfect sense.
With a day’s reflection and a plane flight behind them, the Warriors are likely to feel they still have the upper hand. The Rockets’ thin bench, especially vacant with Luc Mbah a Moute unable to play with a lingering shoulder injury, could eventually become an issue. And just an unfortunate couple of hours — losing Game 5 on their home floor — could mean the eventual disintegration of the system they so carefully cultivated to dismantle the Golden State dynasty.
All of which makes for spectacularly fine theater. It’s a real series now, with all the makings of a classic, and that’s a development that should be welcomed by all.