I don't think 4th quarter was about the Rockets underestimating GS. I think it was their gameplan had to change. They had planned for how to play against the KD Warriors. Once the Warriors changed, the Rockets were simply unprepared and seemed unsure. Hopefully they will prepare before the next game. It is possible they will just assume that without Durant they will automatically win. I just hope not.
The gameplan will change. I hope freeing up Tucker a little will improve rebounding. We have to run shooters off the three point line, and that includes Rivers and Shumpert not getting lost on switches.
Rockets were undefeated at Oracle this season until last week. Rockets are currently unbeaten at the T center in the playoffs Who cares. Past performance is no guarantee of future results ever. I hate dumb multiyear data sets like the Warriors without durant. So what if you tossed a coin and it landed heads up 48 times in a row. The odds that it will be heads on the next toss = 50% Obviously the Rockets have a mountain to climb, while the Warriors can adapt, the Rockets can too. But if we're back to "Durant makes the Warriors worse!" like some of used including me used to wish...it seems stupid.
People laughed at Chris Paul saying Houston was hurt more by Durant’s injury mid-game than Golden State, but I think it’s true. It’s much harder to adjust mid-game to someone who fundamentally changes how a team runs their offense then then the team affected by the lost player. GSW’s motivation to win yesterday was catalyzed by Durant’s loss, and it’s unclear if that’s sustainable. I think after the loss the Rockets won’t underestimate the Warriors. In fact it was probably good that they lost to an extent (of course it would have been a million times better to win). This team has always been better with their backs to the wall. They will adjust (as the Rockets have all season) and they can win.
I love meaningless stats, 29-4 since Durant's been there and missed games...... Let's see, Rockets this year are 7-2 playing on Friday...... so were good.
We know that the Warriors are capable without Durant which makes Gm 6 and Gm 7 winnable. Durant is very hard to cover, the other players not as lethal as #35. If you are a betting man, I'm not. Game 6 has Rockets +6 which means, hello Game 7.
I’m sure everyone on this forum has once said “If they didn’t get KD we’d whoop the Warriors” or something along those lines. Let’s see. Golden opportunity
Oddsmakers say Durant moves the odds 5-7 points either way (whether he is playing or not). There is no way on hell's earth the Worriers are better without their 2-time finals MVP.
If we play like we did in games 3 and 4, we win it without Durant there. If we play like we did in games 2 and 5, we have already lost.
Warriors +7 in Game 6, which record do you want to roll with?!?!?!? This is likely the highest the Rockets have been favorite against the Warriors this year, or last year. If Capela and CP3 play according to their contract, series done.
No, but they are going to have higher variability due to higher 3 point shots. The way Vegas calculates odds is light years ahead of anything I’ve ever seen on this forum. You should assume those guys know what they’re talking about.
Can’t believe people are even debating this and don’t understand the significance of him being out. If this was two years ago and KD went down, then maybe it wouldn’t have mattered that much. This Warriors team is different though. They’ve essentially been playing a 7 man rotation this series and all of their starters including Iggy were already playing ridiculous minutes even before KD went down - Iggy has averaged more minutes a game during this series than Giannis did against Boston. He’s 35 years old with a lot of mileage...similar to Ariza last year. It’s not a fluke Ariza shot 0-12 in game 7 or that we missed so many shots. We were basically on a 6 man rotation once CP3 went down and that 6th man was Green who is barely playable himself. GS is now in a similar situation. They’ll likely start Looney and that leaves Livingston as the only other player who’s been getting any minutes on their bench. As similar to Green last year, he’s barely been playable. So he’s now going to have to play significantly more minutes. On top of that, they’re going to have to play someone like Jerebko significant minutes. So while losing KD’s scoring and ability the defend/rebound obviously hurts them, it hurts them more that someone’s going to have to cover those 45 minutes he was playing and it’s not going to be any of their other starters because they’ve already been playing ridiculous minutes.
