© Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The Warriors and the Houston Rockets are even. The Warriors will head back to the Bay empty-handed, having now been beaten twice by the Rockets in Houston. Tonight’s 112-108 loss featured subpar 3-point shooting from Stephen Curry and an offensive nightmare from Klay Thompson.
Curry thrived in the paint, but was muted from deep
Stephen Curry came out hot tonight, amid a stretch during which his been criticized by some for an inefficient and dampened scoring output. He finished the first half 6-of-12 with 13 points, yet went just 1-of-6 from deep.
Curry and Klay Thompson made seven of the Warriors’ first eight shots from the field, with Durant scoring the other. Out of those first seven shots, none of them were threes, and for Curry, all of his first four makes were in the paint. Curry then went quiet, but came on strong late in the game. He was clutch late, hitting two of his last for threes, but on the whole, Curry was not his usual self from deep.
While he finished with 30 points (12-of-25, 4-of-15 from 3-pt), 8 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, Curry was uncharacteristically off the mark from three, and with Thompson not up to par, it cost the Warriors.
Oi vey, Klay
This was not just a forgettable night for Klay Thompson. He was bad. Thompson went 5-of-15 from the field (1-of-6 from 3-pt) to finish with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 5 personal fouls. His defense was his best attribute by far tonight, but even that was inconsistent. Although, defending someone like James Harden greatly increases the chance of getting juked out of your shoes (which happened to Thompson tonight).
The Warriors desperately needed more from Thompson tonight. They didn’t have much business being as close as they were to a successful comeback, and if Thompson was anything like the offensive bolt of lightning that he’s shown he can be on so many occasions, it would’ve pushed the needle in the Warriors’ favor. But that didn’t happen, and a stale offensive performance from Thompson meant the Warriors were left searching for something they didn’t have.
Durant fails to receive necessary support
Shaun Livingston and Thompson looked terrible tonight. The only other Warriors to play significant minutes off the bench were Kevon Looney, who was good, and Alfonzo McKinnie, who was also good. But both of those performances were about effort, not scoring. Two good, non-high-scoring bench performances don’t mean much when a team goes with an 8-man rotation, and two of those eight players are having horrible games.
The star of the show was, as usual, Kevin Durant. He finished with 34 points (12-of-22, 2-of-6 from 3-pt, 8-of-10 from FT), 5 assists, 7 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers and was great down the stretch.
Only Durant and Curry had 20-plus point games and Curry was essentially inept from deep. The only reason the Warriors had a chance late in the game was due to a late, lane-storming effort from Draymond Green, who scored six of the Warriors’ eight points from the 9:00 to 5:45 mark in the fourth quarter. The only other basket in that period came from an outlet pass by Green that sent Durant on a crash course with the rim. Green was crucial for the Warriors tonight, and finished with 15 points (6-of-11, 0-of-1 from 3-pt, 3-of-5 from FT) 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls.
Curry started to show signs of life from deep late, going 2-for-4 inside the final five minutes. But his game-long inconsistencies from beyond the 3-point arc coupled with an anemic offensive performance from Thompson, and veterans Andre Iguodala (7 points, 3-for-9, 1-for-4 from 3-pt, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, looked good in general, but had no touch from deep, and at one point air-balled a 3-pointer by at least a foot) and Livingston (2 points, 1-for-4, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, was beaten off the dribble multiple times in his 14 minutes) meant the Warriors were without enough firepower to complete the comeback, near as they were.
When the Warriors have to rely on Green for scoring and struggle from deep, it’s not a great sign for their chances, especially against the Rockets. While the Rockets shot 17-of-50 on their threes (34 percent), the Warriors were shockingly bad at 8-for-33 (24 percent). The fact that tonight was close is almost mind-boggling. It also has to be noted that there was one particularly loud fan chanting “New York Knicks” at Durant for most of tonight’s game.
Alright Houston, which one of you is chanting 'New York Knicks' at Kevin Durant?? ? pic.twitter.com/itm894bPiF
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) May 7, 2019