⏩ Backcourt: Thompson, Curry struggle.
HOUSTON — In many ways, this was the enduring image from Game 5 of the Western Conference finals: Houston guard Chris Paul giving Stephen Curry a mock shimmy as they trotted back downcourt in the third quarter.
That’s right, Paul — after making a long, desperation three-pointer over Curry just before the shot clock expired — threw Curry’s signature celebration right back at him.
“It was well deserved. Tough shot,” Curry said afterward with a thin smile. “If you shimmy on somebody else, you’ve got to be ready for them to shimmy on you. I’ll keep shimmying and maybe he will, too.”
On a frenetic night at Toyota Center, with Rockets fans hooting and hollering and all but begging their team to topple the reigning champs, Curry and Klay Thompson tried to summon their Splash Brothers wizardry one more time. They sputtered, then sparkled — and ultimately couldn’t pull it off.
Thompson scored 23 points and Curry had 22 — after both players went scoreless in the first quarter — but the Warriors fell 98-94 to reach the brink of elimination. The Rockets can clinch a berth in the NBA Finals on Saturday night in Oakland.
Not surprisingly, the Warriors followed the lead of Curry and Thompson on Thursday night. They both struggled mightily early in the game, found their touch in the second and third quarters and failed to make big plays down the stretch.
Most notably, Curry missed a running bank shot with 13 seconds left and the Warriors trailing 95-94. It was a difficult shot, taken in traffic, but it’s also a shot Curry often makes.
This time, with a chance to push his team ahead in the game and series, he missed.
“I tried to get to my right hand,” Curry said of his drive toward the basket. “It felt good when I let it go. Just a little strong off the glass. … That’s an aggressive shot I would love to make, but it didn’t happen.”
Curry didn’t take his first shot until 4:20 remained in the first quarter. And, really, when was the last time he spent nearly eight minutes on the court without hoisting one shot?
Thompson looked even more lost early in the game, wandering in confusion. He committed three turnovers before scoring his first point, including a soft, half-hearted, easily stolen inbounds pass.
“We definitely rushed to start the game,” Thompson said. “Myself, I was not composed, but I figured it out.”
So did Curry. He and Thompson rediscovered their touch in the second quarter and lifted the Warriors back into the game. They combined for 18 points in the quarter, and suddenly Golden State had forged a 45-45 tie.
Thompson, who strained his left knee two nights earlier, started hunting his shots rather than waiting for them. Curry, rather than standing around watching Kevin Durant on isolation plays, began scurrying in open space and curling around screens.
As the Splash Brothers go, so go the Warriors.
“We’re going to live and die with them taking the shots they take,” forward Draymond Green said. “And I’ve got a lot of confidence in us living rather than dying.”
Or, as guard Shaun Livingston said: “When those two get going, it really gives us the force and energy we need offensively. Kevin is a different animal, because he can get his shot anytime. But when Steph and Klay get going, it takes our team to another level.”
Now the Warriors need them to get going in crunch time, with the outcome hanging in the balance. Thompson made a big play with 3:09 left, drawing a foul and hitting all three free throws, but those were the last points for him or Curry.
They combined for only one shot attempt in the final three minutes Thursday night: Curry’s floater, which skidded off the rim.
Still, even with the Warriors one loss from elimination for the first time since the NBA Finals against Cleveland in June 2016, Thompson remained confident.
“It’s a seven-game series for a reason,” he said. “It’s not time to panic or press. This is far from over.”