ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Warriors 4/28/2025 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 4)

NBA is basically a 3 month season (April-June) when players are actually trying

 

So this how the Yankees feel about the Astros...no wonder they hate us so much.

 

Ime is a fool on rotation.
Steve Kerr is too smart for Ime.

I have to say Kerr is a really great coach.

 

Kerr is a much better coach than Ime...but Ime just needs a better offensive assistant coach to come up with an effective gameplay for him. He has no offensive identity...where's MDA at?

 

My heart is a little broken, but honestly, this is kind of what I expected. Our best players can barely legally drink and they're going against three hall of famers with a combined 41 years of NBA experience and a combined 8 NBA Finals appearances (Steph and Dray 6, Jimmy 2).

I'm still excited about our future going forward, but I am a little more open to moving Jalen, who just doesn't seem to have the heart to be able to be consistent. With his frame, you have to have the heart of AI. He does not. Sengun at least seems fearless, even if he needs more experience and more polish.

p.s. The Rockets are undefeated in this series in games in which I attended. You guys should have sprung for that GoFundMe to get me to every playoff game. It would have been a sweep.

 

I disagree with some of this but not all - when Golden State beat us in the playoffs before, it was when we were led by Harden. We were the only team in the west that gave the KD warriors any semblance of a competitive series. So this is different but it still sucks to lose to this organization.

 

These teams were only separated in the standings by a few games. This is not like a 65 win team getting upset by a 40 win team.

 

I told you guys. The plan was to get Steven Adams the offensive rebound and put back. Stevo messed up. It's on him.

Our whole offensive strategy the whole season is to crash the offensive board. How can you get offensive rebounds if you don't miss shots?

 

A couple things…

Records can be deceiving. Generally point differential is a better measure of team quality. By seasons end Minny, Memphis, LAC, Houston and GS had fairly similar differentials. Lakers had a better record than that bunch but the worst differential.

Rockets point differential wasnt much better than Warriors by seasons end plus the Warriors added Butler later in the season. Once you factor in experience, not so surprising how the series has gone so far.

The Lakers finished the season as a +1.2 team while Minny was +5.0. That’s a fairly large gap. True the Lakers added Luka later in the year, but that series going Minnesotas way shouldn’t be all that surprising either.

 

We wasted a great opportunity to win where we shot well from field and had good night from Fred. I am not sure if we can replicate that again so that is bit depressing. I am still proud of the team on how they fought and kept the game competitive after several times when Warriors took large leads. It is disappointing to not get decent performance from Green but it is what it is :-(

 

Rigged


Simple as that.


Same as the charge/block call or no call is a tool used to rig outcomes.

The NBA sucks. Its just a cash cow that promotes creation of fake stars and teams like Stepahnie and the worriers.

If you lack integrity you have nothing.

 

I legit think they could have won if they replaced Jalen with Aaron Holiday yesterday. Jalen was a complete nothing. After the first quarter, he was either turning it over or passing the ball immediately and then hiding in the corner. He was even poor defensively. Podz blowing past him and then drawing that and-1 on him...man.

 

(1) Not to nitpick, but I think that's a combined 14 NBA Finals appearances, to say nothing of Looney, etc. (!)
(2) Inclined to agree. I haven't had the chance to watch many games this year -- just reg. season highlights -- but I've watched the four playoff games. He's so great in space, but playoff basketball rarely has space. That's why all those amazing Nash-led Phoenix teams kept running into brick walls in the playoffs, back in the day.

 

Yeah, there's been a lot of talk about how GSW is a crappy team and they're going to get swept in the next round or whatever, but I don't think that's really factual. If you delve into the point differential, offensive/defensive ratings, etc, they're a very good team, especially post-Jimmy trade.

It's true that their roster looks janky AF at a glance, but that's coaching for you. Most of these guys are playing the best defense of their careers (Hield for example) and have been better than their reputation, or lack thereof, suggests. Look at Quinten Post for example--that dude is playing good defense and keeping them in the game on the boards. He also shot 40% from three during the regular season, on fairly high volume.

Throw in the usual favoritism from the refs and Steph doing Steph things and they're a much, much tougher out than your typical #7 seed.

Do I think they'll get past OKC? Nah. But they can hang with any other team in the playoffs.

 

Golden State has been a very good defensive team. Their offense is not that great. Hield/Podziemski is not Klay Thompson. And Curry is no longer at his peak.

 

Yeah, they're a better defensive team than an offensive one--but they're not a bad offensive team, just kinda average. Better too since they got Jimmy.

 

To be fair, the Rox lost the last 3 games - B team - by 51 points or a (-0.65) contribution to their Season point differential. That soundssmall, and in a vacuum it is, but if you add that back in the Rockets immediately surge to #2 in the West in point differential for the season. And it further increases by 35% the Rox differential advantage over GSW.

 

I’m surprised how much this is negatively impacting my mood today.
I came into this series thinking they would lose it anyway.
**** hurts man

 

It's because the Rockets have played defense, and are basically in every game if they make their free throws.

The Rockets lack firepower. Add an offensive star and a shooter, preferably with some defense, and this team looks great. I'm pleased with the defense. The offense has been much worse than I expected it would be.