Young Rockets keep their composure on the road against the veteran Warriors.
The quest for the Houston Rockets to solidify themselves in the two seed in the West, headed out West to Alcatraz as they took on the Golden State Warriors. The history between these two teams is well documented, but the Rockets could take this opportunity to finally have an upper hand on the Warriors for the first time since before the Warrior dynasty began. The Rockets seemed ready to do just that when they started the game with a 6-0 run. When the Warriors answered with an 8-0 run of their own, it was game on.
The Warriors were hot from three early hitting 6-of-10 with two minutes still remaining in the first quarter. The Rockets did not hit a three in the first quarter as the lead for the Warriors ballooned up to 11 quickly. The Rockets were able to force six Warriors turnovers and out score them in the paint to keep it close. The Rockets would go into the second quarter trailing by six points, 24-18.
The Rockets started the quarter with the “double-big” lineup with Curry off the floor and it got them back in the game. It was a slugfest as neither team shot the ball particularly well. Jabari Smith and Aaron Holiday came off the bench and hit three three-point shots and the lead would begin to change hands back and forth midway through the second quarter and it got feisty! The playoff intensity picked up.
Draymond Green tried his best to get in the young Rockets heads, but the Rockets were up for the challenge. After being fouled by Draymond on an inbounding play, and Draymond drawing a technical in the process, Alperen Sengun went right back at the Warriors with a strong drive to the basket and an “and-one” that fired up the whole team. It was a signal to the Warriors. The Rockets were not intimidated.
The Rockets hit the boards and forced turnovers and got out in transition to get themselves a one-point lead headed into the half. The half ended with Curry hitting a patented deep contested three, followed by Fred VanVleet drawing a foul on Draymond Green at half-court with 0.6 remaining on the clock. Unfortunately, Fred missed both free-throws in lock step with the rest of the team who went 2-of-9 from the charity stripe. Dillon Brooks led the way scoring with 12 points. Sengun had 11 points and 8 rebounds, while Jabari Smith Jr. chipped in 10 points off the bench.
The intensity did not lessen in the third quarter. The Rockets defense was swarming and running the Warriors off the three-point line, particularly Stephen Curry who was 1-for-8 through three quarters. Draymond Green sat nearly the entire quarter after getting a flagrant-foul-1 by elbowing Alperen Sengun in the mouth on the way to the basket. Sengun continued to not back down, and Amen Thompson played terrific defense and began to find some scoring opportunities as well. The Rockets would build the lead to double digits despite still not making free throws because they shot 13-of-24 in the quarter including 2-of-4 from three. The Warriors shot 9-of-22 in the quarter, but 4-of-12 from three, so the lead after three quarters was just 83-76 Rockets.
As expected, the beginning of the fourth quarter was tight, but the young Rockets continued to showcase their growth and poise. Amen Thompson put absolute clamps on Steph Curry who made one shot on 10 attempts, Jabari Smith Jr. came up huge off the bench with 16 points and 9 rebounds, and Jalen Green saved his best for the fourth quarter scoring 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting in the final quarter. The Rockets held the Warriors to 41.6 percent shooting from the field and forced 20 turnovers.
For all the noise he made, Draymond Green was fairly quiet as he messed around and got a triple single on 1-of-5 shooting with 5 fouls in 27 minutes. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think Draymond wanted to get kicked out of the game, but the officials did not oblige him. He had to stay and take the Rockets belt-to-ass with the rest of his teammates. Steve Kerr waived the white flag with just under two minutes to go in the game with the Rockets ahead by 13. The Rockets win 106-96 against the Warriors, on the road, for the first time since 2016.
The Rockets have now positioned themselves where the only team that can surpass them in the standings are the Los Angeles Lakers, who they will face on Friday in La La Land. The Rockets will remain in the second seed as long as they do not lose out the rest of the way and the Lakers don’t win the rest of the way. This win puts the league on notice. The Rockets are for real, and they will not be intimidated by anyone. The hometown heroes will be back in action Wednesday against the Los Angeles Clippers. Catch the game on Space City Home Network, or listen on Sports Talk 790 AM.