Nene’s absence is a blow to the Rockets as they prepare for Tuesday’s Game 5 with the series finely balanced at 2-2. “Whatever I have to do to help the team and whatever’s best for this group”. For some reason, it hasn’t happened in Texas – or really anywhere else in May.
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The move, though, isn’t a surprise after Houston coach Mike D’Antoni said at his team’s shootaround Tuesday morning that he would start the same five that began the second half of Sunday’s 125-104 victory in Game 4. Let us know what you think will be the final score in this fantastic Texas tussle.
Golden State reached the Western Conference finals after completing a 4-0 sweep of the Utah Jazz on Monday. The team with a 3-2 series lead has a 244-45 record according to WhoWins.com.
The starters have largely been on the bench and the fans on the way to their cars by late in the fourth quarter.
Game 6 is Thursday in Houston.
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, the Spurs are favored at home, as they are getting odds of -5.5 points against the Rockets.
“I mean, it’s insane”. Anderson said he had no issue shifting to a reserve role, noting that he had served as a sixth man for the Orlando Magic and New Orleans Pelicans. “It’s all about tempo”.
However, piggybacking off their momentum from a series win over OKC, the Rockets were in a position where they weren’t familiar with. And when you play fast, it favors us. Houston can force San Antonio in to uncomfortable stretches of games by continuing to run and push the ball. Nobody predicted Houston to do as well as they did (3rd seed, West) and are doing (tied 2-2 vs. SA in the Conference Semis).
Game 5 between the Rockets and Spurs was befitting overtime. The Argentinian has spent most of his career coming off the Spurs’ bench, from which he’s made three All-Star teams, two All-NBA teams, and was a key cog on four championship teams.
Patrick Beverley scored 20 points, while Anderson and Gordon added 19 and 11 points, respectively, for the Rockets.
KEEP AN EYE ON: The Spurs’ transition defense.
Green later tweeted something seemingly meant as a response to Thomas, whose Celtics are tied with the Wizards 2-2 with Game 5 on Wednesday: “Just get through that series bro …”
“It’s so tough, because everybody knows I work so extremely hard to prove myself each and every night, and to have somebody that was right there supporting me the whole way, wore my jerseys every single day of his life, wore my Russian jerseys every single day of his life, man, to have a person like that taken from you is hard, ” he said. Or Houston could use 6-8 athletic power forward Montrezl Harrell, who has played only sparingly in the postseason, to fill in. Well, then, the Rockets just got their first real taste of the basketball gods giving them a middle finger, with backup center (and crucial rotation piece) Nene suffering a torn groin muscle in Sunday night’s win.
Tuesday’s victor might come down to the play of each team’s star.
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PRESSURE IS ON: In this situation, both.
