NOW IT’S TIME FOR THE DUBS TO WORRY
98-94 loss to Rockets puts Golden State on brink of playoff elimination
HOUSTON » — On Sunday, the Warriors took a 2-1 lead and control of the Western Conference Finals behind a 41-point blowout win over the Houston Rockets.
Just a few days later, the Warriors are on the brink of elimination, needing to win both Games 6 and 7 of the series to advance to a fourthstraight NBA Finals.
A lot can change in the course of a few days.
The Warriors are hoping things change again over the course of the next few.
The Rockets claimed Game 5 of this suddenly engrossing series Thursday night in Houston 98-94 behind 18 secondhalf Chris Paul points and a series of missed opportunities and botched plays from the Warriors down the stretch.
Three times in the final 45 seconds of Thursday’s contest, the Warriors had a chance to tie the game or take the lead — chances to take control of the series:
A missed Quinn Cook 3 with 42 seconds left.
A missed Stephen Curry floater with 13 seconds remaining.
A fumble by Draymond Green with 3 seconds on the clock.
They failed to execute on all three.
That’s now back-to-back games Warriors have put together inauspicious clutch performances. Golden State now finds itself in the most precarious situation its been in since Kevin Durant came to Oakland before the 2016-17 season and the first series deficit this team has faced since they found themselves down 3-1 to Durant’s old team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in the 2016 playoffs.
Two games to win two and advance to the Finals.
This is a moment where character is revealed.
Then again, you could have said the same about the lategame moments of Games 4 and 5.
Either way, Steve Kerr isn’t concerned.
“I feel great about where we are right now,” Kerr said after the loss. Yes, you read that right. “That might sound crazy,” Kerr said. “But I feel it.”
And no, it’s not false bravado, and frankly, it’s easy to see where Kerr is coming from with that comment.
Yes, the Warriors might need to win their last two games — this team has used up every bit of its margin for error — but the difference between winning and losing in both Games 4 and 5 has been marginal.
Add in Paul’s apparent hamstring injury — and his questionable status for Saturday’s Game 6 — and there’s no reason to believe this series ended Thursday.
But the Warriors are in no way in a great place right now.
“I think they’re angry,” Kerr said of his team. “I think they know that they could have won
this game — could have won the last game. This is the worst situation we’ve been in since Kevin’s been here.”
“I know exactly what I’m seeing out there and we defended the beautifully tonight,” Kerr continued. “Just too many turnovers, too many reaches. If we settle down a little bit, we’re going to be in really good shape.”
Kerr cited the fact that James Harden and Paul went 11-for- 40 from the field on Thursday and the Rockets shot 37 percent from the field and 30 percent from behind the 3-point line.
But the Rockets also missed a ton of wide- open shots in the first quarter and completely dictated the pace of the contest.
The truth of the matter — great Warriors defense against bad Rockets offense — likely lies somewhere in the middle.
But there’s no middle ground on the Warriors’ offense over the last two games.
On Thursday, the Golden State offense looked a bit better than it did in Game 4, but it was nothing like the stylish, free-flowing, ball-moving attack that led the team to two titles and three straight NBA Finals berths — the Warriors were stuck between stations, alternating between Kevin Durant isolations and Stephen Curry initiations.
The latter worked. The former was not as successful.
You can’t blame Andre Iguodala’s absence (he missed Game 5 after missing Game 4 with a leg injury) for that.
Durant shot 36 percent from the floor Thursday, had zero assists and a few key turnovers (not all of which will show up in the box score, as failing to grab a rebound doesn’t qualify.)
That simply will not get the job done now that the Warriors are in must-win mode. It didn’t Thursday. Durant has one field goal in the last two fourth quarters. In Thursday’s final frame, he was double-teamed frequently as the Rockets overloaded on predictable plays. It seemed to have taken him by surprise a few times. Even when he eventually figured out what was coming, the Warriors — used to standing around and letting Durant do the work — didn’t seem ready to capitalize.
Still, the Warriors think they found something to exploit in the Houston attack in Game 5.
“I think we figured out something on the offensive end tonight,” Green said. “We just have to keep playing our game. They keep playing that style of defense for a reason.”
They better be right if they want to play for a title.