Location: Toyota Center, Houston, TX TV: ESPN Radio: KBME 790 AM/KEYH 850 AM (Spanish)/KNTE 101.7 FM (Spanish)/Streaming on Rockets App Warriors SBNation Blog: Golden State of Mind Projected Starting Lineups Rockets: Chris Paul, James Harden, Eric Gordon, P.J. Tucker, Clint Capela Warriors: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney/Andrew Bogut, Andre Iguodala As for personnel updates, we all know that Kevin Durant is out, but we don’t know yet who’ll be starting in his place. Steve Kerr is keeping that a secret. On the other side, Kenneth Faried is back for the Rockets, though it remains to be seen whether or not Mike D’Antoni will actually use him. Kenneth Faried back with Rockets tonight. Was out on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/zaqlk0I3SW — Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) May 10, 2019 As for the game, the Rockets are already in a lose-lose. We’ve already been told that this is legacy-defining time for James Harden and Chris Paul. Falter, and they should never live it down. Win, however, and suddenly it’s something they should have done because KD is out. At the same time, the vast majority of media heads are still predicting the Rockets to lose the series: ESPN's panel of experts *updated* their GSW vs #Rockets predictions for the series now that KD is out. Did it change much? Nope. *19 out of 20* STILL predicting a GSW win. Let the record show the Media has Rockets as *underdogs* and not expected to win. https://t.co/zQ4ybbg4Bl — Chris A. White (@fyrebear) May 10, 2019 The time for talk, worry, and anticipation is over. Now we get to sit back and enjoy the show. As we all know, when you’re in a lose-lose, there’s only one thing left to do. GO ROCKETS! !<doc-sep>Houston blew a chance to take control of the Western Conference semi-finals on Wednesday night. They had a chance to end a dynasty. And they failed. That’s painful to say, but it’s the truth. No one wanted Kevin Durant to get hurt. The injury sucks, not just because all injuries suck but because the league and playoffs are better with him in it. With that being said, Houston has to take advantage of his absence in the same way that Golden State took advantage of Chris Paul’s hamstring injury last season. The Rockets must win at home in Game 6 to force a decisive Game 7 back at Oracle. While it would appear that Houston’s job will become a lot easier with Durant out, that’s a naive approach. The core a 73-win regular season team is still available to the Warriors, and Steph Curry and Klay Thompson found themselves in Game 5. In fact, Steph started running the Harden isolation offense to great effect. What’s more, the Warriors can open up their playbook and run more plays rather than “Give the ball to KD and let him go to work.” While that plan of attack has been successful, the Warriors are not a one-trick pony like others because they have four other All-Stars on their team. Expect plenty of ball movement and long-range bombs from the Dubs in this one. They can go back to the basics of their foundation tonight and that’s a scary prospect for Houston. Rebounds have clearly been the best predictive factor in the series so far, and tonight will be no different. With Kevon Looney likely to get more minutes than normal, Houston will have to find a way to keep him off the boards. In general, Houston has to dominate the Golden State bench in a way that they haven’t yet in this series. Curry or Thompson will probably be on the court at all times, but it’s up to Houston to make them pay. A vintage CP3 game would be nice. It’s difficult not to think about what a loss here would mean. While the pressure was fully on Golden State to win Game 5, that same pressure is now fully on the Rockets. If they cannot win at home against the Warriors sans Durant, they will have to take another long look in the mirror this summer. You can only “run it back” so many times before the players start to lose belief in their ability to achieve the ultimate goal of a championship. A lot of people’s reputations are at stake tonight, from Daryl Morey to Paul to Mike D’Antoni. But more than anyone else, tonight rests on the Beard. Tonight marks another chance for James Harden to redeem his Game 6 stinker against the San Antonio Spurs two seasons ago in this same round. With Kawhi Leonard injured and a must-win game at Toyota Center, Harden laid an egg. Tonight’s situation almost completely mirrors that one (these Warriors are obviously better than those Spurs), so this could be the continuation of Harden’s redemption arc or more fodder for the talking heads. Houston brought in CP3 for games like this to prevent a repeat of that horrid Game 6 experience, so once again it’s imperative that he stay aggressive and contribute in his minutes. There’s a chance this is the last game preview of the season. I said my thank yous in the final game preview of the regular season, so I’ll just quickly thank all of you that have read this far. Hopefully you’ll see a Game 7 preview on Sunday (and more beyond that), but I didn’t want to miss this opportunity to show my gratitude. Tip-off is at 8pm CT on ESPN<doc-sep>The Warriors are still the Warriors, known to have accomplished a few things even without Kevin Durant. The Rockets are still trying to catch the Warriors, having been forced to measure themselves and their success against their ability to top the dynasty of their time. If the final 14 minutes of Game 5 had not made it clear to those that will evaluate and debate whatever will happen in Game 6 tonight that the Warriors remain a championship-caliber force, they surely made that evident to the Rockets. The Rockets might not have had 2015 flashbacks, but the Warriors did. The Warriors have built the sort of confidence that cannot be developed in regular-season success. More than confidence, there is a deep understanding of what needs to be done and how to do it. The Warriors, even without Durant, will be loose and shooting freely in Game 6, much as the Spurs were in 2017 when they came into Toyota Center for Game 6 without Kawhi Leonard. “This group will never be doubted,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “This group has nothing to prove. There’s a freedom that comes with that.” The Rockets have not earned that sort of freedom. They cannot have it while facing elimination. They can have the level of desperation that propelled them to their finest play in the series when they won Games 3 and 4 on their home floor. How they react to their situation will be among many things to watch when another meeting of the Warriors and Rockets, with a chance to define much more than one game, begins. Life without KD The Warriors have known all season that they could soon be without Durant. They just did not know it could be this season. They had gotten over the uncertainty about Durant’s future, accepting it as the price of doing business. There have been assumptions around the league that Durant will leave as a free agent, breaking up the team with consecutive championships now chasing another. Durant has offered few substantial clues, but Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green did win a championship and come within a 3-pointer and a blocked shot of claiming another without him. They will believe they can win a second-round playoff game without him, too. They likely will relish the chance to prove it. When Durant went out in Game 5, they immediately knew they had to respond. They did not back into that win. They did not win ugly. They seized the Game 5 win and series lead, playing their best when their best was required. Thompson had already turned things around after his struggles in Houston. Curry would as soon as Durant limped off. How they respond in Game 6 will be the first thing to watch, with the Warriors going back to their perpetual motion offense, filled with off-ball screens, sharp cuts and sharper passes, that has often given the Rockets’ switching defense more trouble even than matching up with an offense fortified with the talents of Kevin Durant. For starters, starters With Kevin Durant out, Warriors coach Steve Kerr needs to put someone else in the starting lineup and could go a variety of ways. He began the series with his five-star lineup, starting Andre Iguodala and no center. He could go that way again, if without quite the star power, by replacing Durant in the starting lineup with Jonas Jerebko. That would likely force the Rockets to keep Clint Capela on Green and allow Kerr to keep Green in pick-and-rolls defending Capela and Harden. But Kevon Looney played so well Wednesday, the Warriors could turn to him as a starter, allowing them to play Jerebko off the bench and match their small lineup with the Rockets’ small lineup. For the Rockets, moving P.J. Tucker to defend Green now that Tucker does not have to deal with Durant could help defensively, but that could be an argument for Kerr to start Jerebko, rather than Looney, knowing the Rockets would be hesitant to put their center on a 3-point shooter. Help for Harden As much as every postseason, perhaps every series and even every game can be treated as a referendum on James Harden, few would have expected the Rockets to knock off the Warriors with Chris Paul and Clint Capela so diminished. The Rockets have other scorers, but the margin for error is slim without the usual play of two of the Rockets most important starters. Paul had been desperately missed when he was the star player that went out in Game 5 a season ago. He was missed nearly as much Wednesday, when he took six 3-pointers and missed them all. He has been unable to get separation off the dribble in the series, a key to his play last season against the Warriors when he could get the switches he preferred and go to work. He has made just 39.3 percent of his shots, 27.6 percent of his 3s. His 42.6 percent shooting is the second-worst in the post-season of his career, his 16 points and 5.4 assists per game his fewest. The Rockets don’t need Clippers era or even last season’s Chris Paul, but they need more. They also need much more from Capela. The matchup is not ideal for him. He does not have the energy and quickness advantage against the Warriors, especially with Green at center, that he can exploit. But a few energy plays, a blocked shot that leads to a break or an offensive rebound that he can take to a slam, can be especially energizing at home. The Rockets got that with his two-handed stuff of Iguodala in Game 4. They need more of that. Sure shots The Rockets are playing a seven-man rotation with a cameo or two from Nenê and Gerald Green. How well role players shoot has been even more telling than usual in the series. Austin Rivers had made 53.3 percent of his shots through three games. He made 1 of 6, missing all four of his 3s in Game 5.<doc-sep>After Stephen Curry bounced back from the first scoreless first half of his playoff career to score 33 points in the last two quarters and help the Golden State Warriors eliminate the Houston Rockets and advance to the Western Conference finals on Friday night, coach Steve Kerr stopped to talk with his star's parents. He said he told Dell and Sonya Curry: "If that game didn't personify Steph Curry, I don't know what does." Curry's huge second half allowed the Warriors to overcome the absence of Kevin Durant and get the 118-113 win. He heard the chatter about how he'd struggled in this series entering this game and admitted that he was "pretty terrible" before halftime on Friday night. "A night like tonight doesn't happen without belief in myself," Curry said. Klay Thompson added 27 points to help two-time defending champion Golden State reach the conference finals for a franchise-record fifth straight year and eliminate Houston for the fourth time in five seasons. The Warriors did it with Durant sidelined by a calf injury sustained in the second half of their Game 5 victory. "That was an absolute grind," Kerr said. "We're thrilled to be moving on and excited to have this one in our review mirror." James Harden led Houston with 35 points, and Chris Paul added 27. Harden's layup got the Rockets within three with less than a minute to go, but Thompson made a 3-pointer with 36.1 seconds remaining to extend Golden State's lead to 110-104. Gerald Green then missed a 3 for Houston and the Rockets were forced to foul Curry. He made both shots before Harden's 3 got Houston within five at 112-107 with 24 seconds left. Curry ices it late Playing with a dislocated finger on his left hand, Curry made two more free throws before P.J. Tucker hit a 3 for Houston. But two more free throws by Curry made it 116-110 with 12.3 seconds left and Harden dribbled it off his foot for the last of his six turnovers. "We've let a lot of opportunities slip away ... if you don't take advantage of opportunities you end up on the losing side," Harden said. The Rockets failed to score for a big chunk of the fourth quarter and had to watch the Warriors celebrate a series victory on their home court for the second straight season after they won the conference finals in Houston last year. Harden was 11 of 25 from the field, going 6 of 15 from 3-point range, and 7 of 12 on free throws. Houston Rockets' James Harden (13) works against Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry during the second half of Game 6. (Christian Smith/The Associated Press) "This one's going to leave a mark," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "This is not something you just get over. This one hurts. We played our best and they played their best, and we didn't knock them out. It was like a heavyweight fight. We didn't land the blows to at least get back to Golden State." Curry struggled early, failing to score in the first half for the first time in 102 career playoff games, and had just 10 points through three periods. But he got going in the fourth, scoring 23 points. "At halftime we're tied and I had zero points, you've got to like that situation," Curry said. Warriors don't miss a beat There were questions entering the game about how the Warriors would weather the loss of Durant — and his more than 34 points a game. But they didn't seem to miss a beat, getting 21 from Thompson in the first half before Curry closed it in the fourth. "When you're missing one of the greatest players to ever play and the best scorer in the world, you can't collectively make up for what he does," Thompson said. "But you can step up in his absence and help out the point production." The Rockets had a five-point lead to start the fourth and it was tied at 95 with about 7 1/2 minutes to go after three points by Golden State's Shaun Livingston. Harden and Curry exchanged baskets soon after that before both teams failed to score for the next 2 1/2 minutes. Houston missed five shots in that stretch and the Warriors missed four before Kevon Looney made a layup to put Golden State on top 99-97 with just under four minutes left. A 3-pointer by Curry gave the Warriors a five-point lead before Harden ended a scoring drought by the Rockets of almost four minutes with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 102-100 with about 2 1/2 remaining. Harden was called for a charge after that before Curry scored all of Golden State's points in a 5-2 run that made it 107-102 with 90 seconds left.<doc-sep>
It was the kind of loss you never get over. The Houston Rockets needed a win in Game 6 against the Golden State Warriors on Friday to extend their second-round series, and, despite Kevin Durant being sidelined with a strained calf, despite Stephen Curry going scoreless in the first half, despite their star backcourt of James Harden and Chris Paul combining for 62 points on 22-for-44 shooting, they didn't get it done. The Rockets led by double-digits at halftime of Game 7 of last year's conference finals against the Warriors and missed 27 straight 3-pointers, but, somehow, this was worse. "I'm definitely not going to get over it in this press conference or tomorrow or the next day," a despondent Mike D'Antoni said after the 118-113 defeat. "This one hurts. We didn't play our best. To beat these guys, you gotta play your best. It's almost like in a boxing match, you gotta knock the champion out. And we couldn't, we didn't knock them out." The Rockets can't chalk this up to untimely misses. They went 17 for 39 from 3-point range, their best mark of the playoffs, and had an offensive rating of 115.3, which would lead the league if sustained over a full season. They lost because they couldn't take care of the ball. They lost because they allowed the defending champions to hang around. They lost because, thanks to their defensive mistakes, Golden State had its best offensive game of the series on a night in which it played reserves Quinn Cook, Alfonzo McKinnie, Jordan Bell and Kevon Looney at the same time. "You cannot relax on defense for one second," D'Antoni said. You cannot forget to box out one second. You've gotta be a champion to beat a champion. I just thought there was too many times that we had a miscommunication, we relaxed a little bit or we weren't really 100 percent sharp. We were playing hard and trying to do it, but with them, you cannot make a mental mistake. Not for a second. Or it's going to be three points. And they got us a few times." One of the 3s he alluded to was the dagger: Klay Thompson's 28-foot bomb with 36 seconds on the clock. It gave the Warriors a 110-104 lead, and while it was by no means an easy shot, it was one Houston shouldn't have allowed. Paul could have left Andre Iguodala alone in the corner, but stunted at him rather than staying attached to one of the greatest shooters of all-time. "I made a false step towards Iguodala," Paul said, "and that's all he need, you know what I mean? Klay is tough." The Rockets called timeout after that, and, in a desperate situation, Gerald Green had his 3-pointer blocked by Looney. This was not Green's most inexplicable field goal attempt of the fourth quarter, however: Early in the period, P.J. Tucker passed up an open 3 on a fast break in favor of slowing things down. Tucker handed the ball off to Green, who drove into traffic and missed a wild fadeaway over two defenders from about nine feet out. Iguodala hit a 3 on the next possession. There were self-inflicted wounds all night, starting with four turnovers in the first five minutes. The Warriors were within one point at the end of the first quarter largely because they had four offensive rebounds, which all directly led to easy baskets or free throws. Throughout, when Houston played disciplined defense, it was able to put them in uncomfortable positions. Too often, though, it could not stay connected for a full 24 seconds. This was particularly evident late in the game, with Golden State running Curry-Green side pick-and-rolls over and over again. "We just gotta play smarter," Paul said. To the Warriors' credit, their entire game plan is designed to make opponents look dumb. When Curry and Thompson are sprinting all over the court, using screens and launching 3s, it takes a significant amount of mental and physical energy to stay with them. Golden State wants to confuse opponents with ball and player movement, and, without Durant, there is naturally a greater emphasis on that. The Warriors played with the gusto you'd expect from a shorthanded squad, trying to push the ball at every opportunity and manufacture points however they could.