The Golden State Warriors rolled into the second round of the playoffs by embarrassing the visiting Houston Rockets, 114-81, on Wednesday night to win the best-of-seven series, 4-1, as league leading scorer Stephen Curry watched in delight.
Advertisement
It gave the Warriors at least three days off before their next series, more if the injury-ravaged Los Angeles Clippers can somehow win in Portland on Friday to force a Game 7.
The Golden State Warriors dispatch the Houston Rockets in game 5 to advance through the next round of the Western Conference Playoffs.
“I think we proved to ourselves we can play without him, ” reserve guard Ian Clark said. What we didn’t know was they were actually saving their worst for last. “We’d rather him be out there, but when he’s not out there, we have to pull together”.
CJ McCollum scored 27 points for Portland, while Damian Lillard bagged 16 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter against the Clippers who were without Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Shaun Livingston has continued to fill in gamely for Curry, midranging the Rockets to death with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting.
“I had no idea until I saw the highlights”, coach Steve Kerr said. “We are really lucky. He had a terrific series”. Harden finished with 35 points but was just one of two Rockets who scored in double figures. He set it up after grabbing a long rebound. Then the All-Star nailed a 3-pointer from behind a screen.
So much for Jason Terry’s guarantee there would be a Game 6 back in Houston.
“He wanted to stay, he wanted to finish”, interim Rockets coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. Curry managed to match their output in street clothes.
The Warriors dominated the game from the start, and Curry was up off the bench and doing fist pumps after Thompson and Green hit 3-pointers to start the game and a Livingston dunk made it 8-0.
In the first quarter that Golden State led 37-20, the Rockets not named James Harden missed all 15 of their shots.
The Rockets never got closer than 13 over the remainder of the first half and got no closer than 16 after halftime.
“Get out of here”, he said, according to his playoff diary on ESPN. “Not only is it depth, but depth of skill”. His “Moreyball” system, which eschews the mid-range offensive game in favor of high effective-field-goal percentage shots, could be effective in the 3-point happy, pace-and-space National Basketball Association, but the concept is so overarching and rigid that it has only proven to hold the Rockets back. A little later, Thompson stole a pass and banked a layup at the other end. Shortly after the double technical, Bickerstaff was whistled for a T…. And it showed. The Rockets flat out got embarrassed, though they did steal one game (sans Curry of course). Harden has the ball in his hands virtually all the time, and every possession seems to wind up with one of three scenarios happening: Harden taking a jumper; Harden driving and attempting to draw a foul; or Harden – eventually – kicking the ball out to a three-point shooter on the perimeter.
Portland has a 3-2 series lead over Los Angeles, and if the Clippers win Game 6 on Friday, it would delay the start of the second-round series.
Advertisement
“It was nice to channel Steph out there”, Thompson said, smiling at the thought of the deep shot.
