The Golden State Warriors had a 3-1 lead. They are now heading for a match 7. What could go wrong?
Behind a scorching performance by Fred Vanvleet, the Houston Rockets beat the Warriors 115-107 in match 6 of their first round series on Friday, remaining alive for a second consecutive match. Match 7 is scheduled for Sunday at 8:30 p.m. he.
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The Warriors spent a large part of the game at a striking distance, but each step forward was encountered with a response from the Rockets. Most of these responses came from Fred Vanvleet, who posted 29 out of 7 points from the 13 shots.
With this performance, match 6 was a double dose of bad memories for the Warriors. We all remember what happened the last time that the Warriors have entered a match 7 after blowing a 3-1 lead, their legendary defeat of the 2016 final, and you also remember Vanvleet lost 22 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, in the last match of the 2019 final.
Vanvleet fueled the 12-0 race in the fourth quarter which won the Rockets The Game. Houston was so dominant in the fourth quarter, the Warriors did not mark their second basket in the frame until there is less than four minutes left.
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It was a mature victory for the Rockets, who had to survive additional help from Stephen Curry, buffoonery of Draymond Green, a persistent attempt to force Steven Adams to free throws and a central crowd of prosecution which was noisy until it finally falls into the amazed silence in the middle of the fourth quarter.
Will Stephen Curry be gassed for match 7?
Losing a match 6 is one thing. Losing a match 6 after keeping your 37 -year -old man in the match for every minute of competition for the second half is another.
The Warriors had the opportunity to close this series and tried to do so with maximum effort. When Curry took his third fault in the second quarter, the Warriors head coach Steve Kerr kept him in the match and was rewarded with a personal race 11-0 to equalize the match. In five possessions, the Warriors went to Curry at 3 points, Buddy Hield Miss, Curry et-1, Curry Francs, Curry at 3 points.
Curry was back at the start of the second half, and stayed in the match until the shortest rests at 3:07. It is in short because he was officially seated for a total of two seconds, leaving the game on a pair of free throws and returning immediately after a hack-year-old fault, at 3:05. He just needed to sit down.
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Curry finished the match with 42 minutes played, its highest total in the series. It was a strategy Only JJ Redick could love.
We will see if it affects him in match 7.
The flagrants of Draymond Green are once again a problem
You may remember that Draymond Green once received a suspension of a match in the 2016 NBA final after having accumulated four blatant faults through the playoffs. He is about to repeat this feat even before the start of the Western Conference finals, if the Warriors go so far.
Green won his second flagrant minutes for the match for grabbing Jalen Green's hair and pushing it down. Both have something in a story together.
If Green takes two other blatant faults, the Warriors will play their next match without their starting power. Even ESPN advertisers was surveying with his schick.
