Practice interviews: Rockets make final playoff preparations for Game 1 versus Warriors
Practice interviews: Rockets make final playoff preparations for Game 1 versus Warriors Saturday's practice was the final one for the Rockets before Sunday's Game 1 of their first-round playoff series versus Golden State. Steven Adams, Tari Eason, and Ime Udoka shared their thoughts.
For a fourth consecutive day in advance of the 2025 NBA playoffs, the Rockets practiced Saturday at their new training center near Houston's West Loop.
Saturday's practice was the final one before their best-of-seven, first-round series (schedule) against Golden State begins on Sunday night inside Houston's Toyota Center. The team will hold a brief gameday morning shootaround session at its practice facility.
'If it's anything like our (NBA Cup) game against Golden State, it's gonna be freaking lit,' veteran center Steven Adams said of the potential atmosphere for the franchise's first home playoff game since May 2019. 'It's going to be turned up. That was ridiculous. That atmosphere was amazing.'
Golden State (48-34, No. 7 in Western Conference) won four fewer games than the Rockets (52-30, No. 2 in West) during the regular season, which is why Houston holds home-court advantage. The Warriors did win three of five head-to-head meetings versus the Rockets, though Houston won two of the final three.
After the opening two games at Toyota Center, the next two games of the series will shift to San Francisco's Chase Center, as part of the NBA's 2-2-1-1-1 format. Should further games be necessary in order for one side to reach four wins and advance, a hypothetical Game 5 and Game 7 would be in Houston, while a Game 6 would be at Golden State.
Because the Rockets practiced fairly intensely over the previous three days, Saturday's practice was shorter and lighter in nature as the team works to be in optimal condition for Sunday's Game 1.
By day, per Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle, Wednesday's practice focus was overall personnel; Thursday's was Houston's offense versus the Golden State defense; Friday's was Houston's defense versus the Warriors' offense; and Saturday's emphasis was on situational items, such as late-game sequences and after-timeout plays (ATOs).
Head coach Ime Udoka did reveal that veteran forward Jae'Sean Tate (ankle) and center Jock Landale (knee) would be unavailable to start the series. Tate injured his ankle in the final week of the 2024-25 regular season, while Landale banged knees at one of this week's practices. Their precise return timetables are not yet known, though neither was expected to feature in Houston's playing rotation for the playoffs, anyway.
Complete interviews are available for viewing below, along with select practice footage.
Steven Adams
Tari Eason
Ime Udoka
Saturday's Practice Footage
More: 'Journey to Liftoff': On eve of playoff return, Rockets release feature film
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indianapolis Star
28 minutes ago
- Indianapolis Star
Pacers an 'acquired taste.' In Game 2, OKC Thunder swallowed Indiana up to even NBA Finals
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault called the Indiana Pacers an acquired taste. 'We haven't played them a ton,' Daigneault said. 'They're not in the West obviously. They play a very distinct style on both ends.' After wasting an opportunity to win Game 1, the Thunder were left with a bitter aftertaste against the never-quit Pacers. The Thunder devoured the Pacers in Game 2 Sunday evening the NBA Finals with a 123-107 victory. NBA Finals Game 2 box score, stats: Thunder rolls as OKC evens series vs. Pacers While the Pacers stole homecourt advantage, they haven't played great and it's starting to become an issue as the series moves to Indianapolis for Games 3 and 4. 'Another bad first half,' Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. 'Obviously, it was a big problem, and we just played poorly. A little bit better in the second half but you can't be a team that's reactive and expect to be successful or have consistency.' At this stage, the Pacers cannot rely on their ability to complete a comeback. They need to start better, and now, it's on Carlisle and his staff to figure that out. Indiana trailed by as many as 23 points, and while the comebacks have been compelling, it's not a recipe for playoff success. 'We're going to have to be a lot better on Wednesday,' Carlisle said. The Thunder were more physical, dominated the paint for the second consecutive game and limited Tyrese Haliburton to a quiet 17 points, 12 of which came in the fourth quarter when Oklahoma City had control of the game and was not in the mood to blow another double-digit lead. How did the Pacers handle Oklahoma City's physicality? 'Not well,' Carlisle said. 'They were the best in the league during the year at keeping people out of there (paint). They are great at it. We have to find ways to get the ball in there, and you know, it's just there are so many things that have to go right on a set of two possessions to get the ball into the heart of their defense.' Throughout the season and especially the playoffs, the Thunder's top-ranked defense finds a way to take away or limit the opponent's strengths. They did it against Denver and Minnesota in the Western Conference semifinals and finals. 'Our offense is built from the inside-out, and we have to do a better job getting downhill,' Haliburton said. 'They collapse and make plays from there. I thought we could improve a lot there. But yeah, they are flying around. They have got great point-of-attack defenders and great rim protectors. We can do a better job, watch the film, and see where we can get better going into Game 3.' What about Haliburton's performance? 'There's a lot more to the game than just scoring. … People shouldn't just look at his points and assists and judge how he played, or judge how any of our guys played just on that,' Carlisle said. 'That's not how our team is built. We are an ecosystem that has to function together. We've got to score enough points to win the game but who gets them and how they get them, not important.' Pascal Siakam found no consolation in getting a split and grabbing homecourt advantage in the series. 'You want to win every game you play, so we are not happy with how the game went today, and that's it,' he said. 'We've just got to turn the page, focus on Game 3. That's the biggest game of the year.' This series is much closer to being a 2-0 Thunder lead than a 2-0 Pacers lead, and between Game 1 and 2, Carlisle compared a playoff series to a book. 'Each game in this series is going to look different,' he said. 'A playoff series is a series of seven chapters, and each one takes on a different personality.' If the Pacers don't find a way to start the next chapter better than they have, the book is going to close quickly on their championship aspirations.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Thunder cruise to commanding Game 2 win over Pacers to even NBA Finals
OKLAHOMA CITY — This has been Oklahoma City's formula all season: Lose one game, respond in the next. That's exactly what the Thunder did in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, Alex Caruso added 20 off the bench and the Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers 123-107 on Sunday night to tie these finals at one game apiece. Advertisement 5 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander attempts a shot during Game 2 of the NBA Finals on June 8. AP 5 Tyrese Haliburton looks to pass during Game 2 of the NBA Finals on June 8. NBAE via Getty Images Jalen Williams scored 19, Aaron Wiggins had 18 and Chet Holmgren finished with 15 for the Thunder. It was the franchise's first finals game win since the opener of the 2012 series against Miami. 'We did some things good tonight. We did some things bad,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'We've got to be able to get better and be ready for Game 3.' Advertisement Tyrese Haliburton scored 17 for Indiana, which erased a 15-point, fourth-quarter deficit in Game 1 but never made a push on Sunday. Myles Turner scored 16 and Pascal Siakam added 15 for the Pacers, the first team since Miami in 2013 to not have a 20-point scorer in the first two games of the finals. 5 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drives with the ball during Game 2 of the NBA Finals on June 8. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Game 3 is Wednesday at Indianapolis, in what will be the first finals game in that city in 25 years. Advertisement Gilgeous-Alexander's first basket of the night was a history-maker: It gave him 3,000 points on the season, including the regular season and playoffs. And later in Game 2, he passed New York's Jalen Brunson (514) as the leading overall scorer in these playoffs. But the real milestone for the MVP came a couple hours later, when he and most everybody else on the Thunder got a finals win for the first time. A 19-2 run in the second quarter turned what was a six-point game into a 23-point Thunder lead. It might have seemed wobbly a couple of times — an immediate 10-0 rebuttal by the Pacers made it 52-39, and Indiana was within 13 again after Andrew Nembhard's layup with 7:09 left in the third — but the Thunder lead was never in serious doubt. 5 Alex Caruso looks to shoot during the Thunder's Game 2 win June 8. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Advertisement 5 Andrew Nembhard tumbles to the court with the ball during Game 2 of the NBA Finals on June 8. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect With the noise level in the building often topping 100 decibels — a chainsaw is 110 dB, for comparison purposes — the Thunder did what they've done pretty much all season. They came off a loss, this time a 111-110 defeat in Game 1, and blew somebody out as their response. Including the NBA Cup title game, which doesn't count in any standings, the Thunder are now 18-2 this season when coming off a loss. Of those 18 wins, 12 have been by double digits.
Hamilton Spectator
3 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Thunder open big lead and keep control, topping Pacers 123-107 to even NBA Finals at 1-1
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — This has been Oklahoma City's formula all season: Lose one game, respond in the next. That's exactly what the Thunder did in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Hamilton, Ont., scored 34 points, Alex Caruso added 20 off the bench and the Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers 123-107 on Sunday night to tie these finals at one game apiece. Jalen Williams scored 19, Aaron Wiggins had 18 and Chet Holmgren finished with 15 for the Thunder. It was the franchise's first finals game win since the opener of the 2012 series against Miami. 'We did some things good tonight. We did some things bad,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'We've got to be able to get better and be ready for Game 3.' Tyrese Haliburton scored 17 for Indiana, which erased a 15-point, fourth-quarter deficit in Game 1 but never made a push on Sunday. Myles Turner scored 16 and former Toronto Raptor Pascal Siakam added 15 for the Pacers, the first team since Miami in 2013 to not have a 20-point scorer in the first two games of the finals. Game 3 is Wednesday at Indianapolis, in what will be the first finals game in that city in 25 years. Gilgeous-Alexander's first basket of the night was a history-maker: It gave him 3,000 points on the season, including the regular season and playoffs. And later in Game 2, he passed New York's Jalen Brunson (514) as the leading overall scorer in these playoffs. But the real milestone for the MVP came a couple hours later, when he and most everybody else on the Thunder got a finals win for the first time. A 19-2 run in the second quarter turned what was a six-point game into a 23-point Thunder lead. It might have seemed wobbly a couple of times — an immediate 10-0 rebuttal by the Pacers made it 52-39, and Indiana was within 13 again after Andrew Nembhard of Aurora, Ont., made a layup with 7:09 left in the third — but the Thunder lead was never in serious doubt. With the noise level in the building often topping 100 decibels — a chainsaw is 110 dB, for comparison purposes — the Thunder did what they've done pretty much all season. They came off a loss, this time a 111-110 defeat in Game 1, and blew somebody out as their response. Including the NBA Cup title game, which doesn't count in any standings, the Thunder are now 18-2 this season when coming off a loss. Of those 18 wins, 12 have been by double digits. ___ AP NBA:
