The Rockets blew it against the Jimmy Butler-less Warriors. They might regret it

New York Times

27-04-2025

SAN FRANCISCO — Let's go back to the night of April 6 for a moment.
It was the same two teams, the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors, in a regular-season finale everyone knew might be a playoff preview. Same location, the Chase Center, a building where the Warriors had been so dominant since adding Jimmy Butler at the February trade deadline.
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But the result was different, an impressive 10-point win for the visitors that seemed to carry some sort of deeper meaning. Maybe, just maybe, this Rockets team could exorcise the Warriors demons that have haunted them for so long.
Unlike the version of the Rockets that blew a … golden … opportunity to take the 2-1 series lead Saturday, falling 104-93 in Game 3 to a Warriors team that was without Butler (pelvic contusion), the April 6 Rockets looked like legitimate title contenders. Given all the one-sided history between these two franchises, with Steph Curry and friends having chased everyone from James Harden to Mike D'Antoni to Daryl Morey and so many others out of town without a crown, it was basically the Rockets' version of Utopia.
Houston coach Ime Udoka had put a frustrated Curry in his place in his own building at halftime, exchanging words with the Warriors star who was complaining to the officials, telling him, to quote The Weeknd, to save his tears for another day. Amen Thompson put Curry in a straitjacket, putting on an incredible defensive display while holding him to just three points and earning all the adulation that awaited him outside the visitor's locker room.
'Belt to ass!' one Rockets staffer had yelled while slapping Thompson on the back. 'That's how we do it!'
But turnabout is fair play — especially when it comes to No. 30 — and the Rockets' Game 3 performance invited the kind of despair that might have a lasting impact on their offseason if they don't turn this series around. Especially considering the way it went down.
It's no secret that these Rockets, as elite and tough as they are on the defensive side of the ball, must find a way to improve their offense if they're going to become one of the NBA's elite. They have been pondering the prospect of adding another elite scorer for quite some time now, whether it's Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Zion Williamson or anyone else of that ilk.
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They finished the regular season with the league's 12th-best offensive rating — a respectable mark, to be sure, but simply not good enough to qualify for that upper echelon. And as was the case in Game 1, when they scored just 85 points while one of their franchise cornerstones, Jalen Green, scored just seven, they lacked the kind of offensive capability that is a prerequisite to advancing this time of year.
It's not all on the 23-year-old Green, but his Jekyll-and-Hyde tendency reared its ugly head again as he followed his 38-point outing in Game 2 with a nine-point performance that, surprisingly, was met with a laundry list of excuses afterward. Yes, it's true that the Warriors double-teamed and blitzed him throughout the vast majority of his 39 minutes. And yes, as Udoka and his teammates highlighted, he often found the open man in those situations only to see the subsequent shot miss the mark.
But there was a humbling lesson for Green to learn by watching Curry's magnificence, how he somehow managed to conjure a 36-point outing on this night when Udoka threw everything they had in his direction. To put it simply, that's what stars do.
They fight through the doubles. They find their shot when the role players aren't coming through. And when there's a chance to go up 2-1 against a team that is very likely to welcome another all-time great (Butler) back into the fold for Game 4, they don't settle for taking just 11 shots (making four) if it means running the risk of losing all the momentum you've spent these past six months building.
If the Rockets ultimately decide to go shopping for a roster upgrade, Green — who signed a three-year, $106 million extension in October — is widely expected to be the one heading out of town.
The fault was not just his, though.
Fred in the first >>>
📈 13 PTS | 2 3PM
🧵 THREAD pic.twitter.com/rcZsuFnI7D
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) April 27, 2025
Thompson was just five-of-16 from the floor with a team-high four turnovers. Resident veteran and stabilizer Fred VanVleet had 13 points in the first quarter, only to score four the rest of the way and finish with a team-worst minus-16 rating. Alperen Sengun, who has been the steadiest Rocket of them all on the offensive end, finished with 15 points (seven-of-18 shooting), 11 rebounds, four assists and a minus-10 rating.
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'They have been going after (VanVleet) and Jalen quite a bit in the pick-and-rolls, kind of hawking them full-court,' Udoka said. 'When they did put two bodies on the ball, we didn't do a good enough job making them pay tonight. As you saw, we were 19 for 48 in the paint. That's not good enough — point-blank layups or floaters or making the right read from there, you have to convert those.'
If the Rockets find a way to turn this series around, then the offseason storyline gets delayed for another round, at least. But to see them blow it against the Butler-less Warriors after leading by as many as 13 points in the first half, with the mood switching so drastically in the process, was to be reminded that there is likely more roster work to be done.
'I think every chance you don't win a game you feel like you could win is a missed opportunity,' VanVleet said. 'This is an experienced group that they have. It's been a good team for the second half of the year. We knew that they were going to respond with a guy out as any good team will. There's no scrubs in the playoffs right now. Yes, it's definitely a missed opportunity but we can't really have that viewpoint. We have to bounce back and get ready for Monday.'
The mood outside the visitors locker room was different this time around. So much more dour. Depressed. Dejected.
Sengun was the first off the floor, clearly eager to leave the loss behind him, with Jalen Green close behind. There was some soft clapping from staff members. Rockets general manager Rafael Stone, the man who will be tasked with answering all these looming questions, walked by calmly while taking a phone call.
'Stay together,' Rockets big man Jabari Smith Jr. said to anyone who would listen. 'We good. Regroup, man.'
They have no other choice here. If not, change awaits.
(Top photo of Jalen Green and Stephen Curry: Darren Yamashita / Imagn Images)