ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Warriors 4/6/2025

Just love to see Jalen and Sengun so close. This whole team has such great chemistry and it really feels like everyone is meshing.

 

Mad props to Jabari Smith Jr for his 16 and 9! He played through an ankle sprain. It was doubtful that he would be fit for this game.

 

Another extremely gratifying win. Keep these guys together (minus Fred). This young core is not worth breaking up to go star chasing. I’m sold and others should be too. My confidence in Houston’s potential playoff success is at an all time high for this season. We are putting it all together at the right time (minus Fred)

 

Just here to write Fu** yeah!!! No better way to start the week, after our performance last night. The 4th quarter was just terrific! Brooks was sharp, Twin was excellent like always, and Green finally took off there in the 4th, boosting our offense to secure the W.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6260557/2025/04/07/steph-curry-warriors-lose-to-rockets/

The Warriors star was getting handled in the kind of way you seldom see, locked up by a second-year wing, Amen Thompson, who grew up in Oakland and attended Curry’s basketball camps yet, somehow, was a die-hard LeBron James fan who “hated the Warriors,” as he shared afterward.



While exiting to the locker room at halftime, Curry appeared to be voicing his displeasure to officials about the way he was being defended. Udoka crossed paths with the conversation and lobbed a jab toward Curry, leading to a terse back-and-forth. Udoka, true to form, wanted all the smoke after all.

“When people start complaining about foul calls or crying about physicality, you’ve done your job,” Udoka told The Athletic when asked about the exchange with Curry. “That’s the first step in winning the battle. So I told my team, when this team starts crying about it, up the intensity, up the aggressiveness, and make the refs adjust to you.”

As the physicality and overzealous defensive schemes typically crank up this time of year against Curry, the Warriors often grumble privately about the way Curry is officiated, believing he is held and bumped without a whistle too often, especially when trying to break free off-ball and out of the referee’s direct vision.

Butler, Curry’s newest teammate, brought that complaint to the public after the Rockets loss. Curry finished the game without a free-throw attempt for the first time since late January.

“I’ve never seen an individual get fouled more than he gets fouled,” Butler said. “To me, it’s astounding. I don’t know how many years he has? Sixteen? I’m pretty sure it’s been happening for 16 straight years. It really angers me that he’s on my team and gets hacked like that.”

But the louder fireworks came from Draymond Green, who jostled with Alperen Sengun late in the first half, getting a technical for an elbow while fighting for inbound positioning and then later getting a flagrant foul while nailing Sengun with an elbow on his own layup attempt.

“The tech, I’m not going to stop because the referee says stop and give up position,” Green said. “I already give up six inches and 50 pounds.”

With Sengun’s nose left bloodied as he headed to the free-throw line, Rockets veteran Fred VanVleet talked at length about the tense situation with Green.

“(Green) rattles a lot of teams, and a lot of people,” VanVleet told The Athletic. “That (conversation with Green) was just more so me obviously standing up for our group, and letting (his teammates) know, like we’re good — we’re good. We play the game the right way. If we do what we need to do, we’ll be all right.

“If you get caught up trying to win that battle against him, he’s probably undefeated when it comes to playing that game. So it was just more so keeping us focused. As an older team (like the Warriors), you kind of resort to other things and tricks of the trade. So just wanted to keep us level-headed and locked into what we’re doing.”

Thompson, who some Rockets officials privately predict could become as dynamic and dominant as any of their young talents, put Curry in the proverbial straitjacket.

“I live for those big matchups — playing the greats,” Thompson told The Athletic. “He’s one of the top 10 greats of all time. That’s a matchup I want.”

 

Ime Udoka is in charge here!

 

And LBJ almost joined the Worriers.........

 

Yeah dude is almost always wrong on everything lmao

 

Ime and Fred said the key to victory was not getting caught up in the extra curriculars and sticking to the GAMEPLAN. Talking trash and chest bumping are things you do when you're old, slow and desperate. The Rockets are none of those things.

 

I said it since day 1 I'd rather have Amen and people called me crazy. There's a reason unicorns don't exist in real life, Wemby isnt meant to have a long and healthy career.

 

First off: Hell ****ing yeah, finally beat them! Second, to get the negative out of the way, Tari better get his head out of his ass and playing basketball, because whatever he’s doing on offense ain’t it.

Third: I don’t, I really dislike the immature jawing Ime does with players. I have zero respect for it. Let the players do that, you’re the coach. In any other league everyone would be like WTF is that coach doing. I like my coach to be emotional but still have class. Which is my Rudy T was such an amazing coach. He went nuts at times, but knew not to be petty with players. He left that up to Mario, Sam and Max.

Now let’s get down to the nitty gritty:

• Amen - Maaaannnn was I wrong about him, really didn’t want to draft him as I thought no way a guy who cannot shoot and relies on athleticism in that joke of a league going to do anything for us. Finding out how he wasn’t smiling all the while preparing for this match-up and how he grew up hating the Warriors - might have known this before - is just making me like him even more. This guy is a bad, bad man and deserves DPOY and All Defense First for sure. If he can get better at shooting, get the passing down, he’s Magic light.
• Green - People who just look at the numbers and his struggles would say he had a solid to slightly subpar game, maybe even very good, but I’d say why this game is evident of his growth. Not just in this game, but since the ASB he’s been increasingly making timely shots. He’s making shots late, picking his spots a bit more overall and you can see he’s confident in being the guy.
• Jabari - his confidence is sky high again and on his drives he’s showing more determination, making them at a higher clip and off the bench he’s our #1 guy now.
• Brooks - gladly did not get involved in some fake tough guy nonsense back and forth barking etc. He just played his game, punished Curry whenever he was on him and was our best shooter on the court. If he plays like this, he might be our x factor.
• Sengun - aside from one instance where he definitely was fouled, he did his job and went at everyone. Glad he just kept playing his game.

This really feels like 1992-93 where everything just clicks late and we can make a really WCSF, make it a competitive series that goes 7 and maybe even go to the WCF.

 

Tari definitely needs to refocus and work hard in practice, ditto for FVV.

Reed can help Fred out. I admit I do underrate Aaron at times. Tate is a valuable piece as well.

I hope Cam can prove his worth to Ime in practice.



Go Houston Rockets! Keep focusing on the game at all times.

 

Great summary!

 

Moving Screeners lose and the first thing they do is whine about foul calls. Draymond shouldn't have poked the bear. 35 year old Jimmy Butler isnt 27 year old Klay Thompson.

 

what's international smoke?

 

Agree except the coaching part. I see your point but Basketball is a different game than other sports. Coaches talk to players all the time. I think getting into the heads of players adds a different element. I don’t actually know what was said or who started it. According to the post game Udoka seemed to allude that Wardell started it. But great observation on the other players.

 

clanton is eh sometimes, but he never misses with these edits lmao. Welcome to jungle works so perfect.

 

You would think age might have lent Draymond some scintilla of wisdom to mitigate his buffoonery.

I won't say he's getting worse. He's always been a p.o.s., with a positive nod to his passing and defense. Watching him last night made me shake my head, though. "Still?" thought I.

Douchers gonna douche. Always.