Warriors-Rockets Game Six Preview: Who Has the Edge?
The Warriors and Rockets will tip off Game 6 of their playoff series tomorrow night in Golden State. The Warriors failed to close out Game 5, as they were blown out by the Rockets by a score of 131-116. Game 6 will be an intense battle. Let’s look at what the mindsets are for both teams.
What Game Six Means for Warriors
The Warriors still hold a 3-2 series lead, and they head back to Golden State after playing arguably their best game of the series in Game 4. They only won by three points, but the way they were playing made it seem like the score should’ve been a lot wider. The Warriors need to get back to what was working in Game 5.
That includes shutting down the Rocket’s young players Amen Thompson and Jalen Green. Whatever game Golden State put out there in Game 4 needs to come back in Game 6. Thompson and the Rockets were able to hold Stephen Curry to zero points in the first quarter. It’s a simple game for Golden State. Get Curry going again, and hold back Green and Thompson. If Curry gets shut down, Golden State is in trouble. It seems that simple.
What Game Six Means for The Rockets
The Rockets need the exact game plan against the Warriors as Game 5. Thompson versus Curry continues to be the most influential matchup in this series. Although Thompson is known for his defensive game, his 25 points in Game 5 came as a nice surprise. If Thompson can put up just 15 to 20 points and shut down Curry, the Rockets have a real chance of forcing a Game 7.
Game 6 for Houston will answer one question. Have they been able to stop the streaky offense and show up in back-to-back games? Their offense has been inconsistent the entire series. Game 1 85 points, Game 2 109 points, Game 3 93 points, Game 4 106, Game 5 116 points. You get the point; their offense has been inconsistent. They need another performance like they just had.
Last Thoughts
The Warriors and Rockets both have facets of their games. The Warriors have looked elite defensively and lost defensively in this series. The Rockets have looked lost offensively and elite offensively on their end. In the end, the winner of this series will be the team that can find both ends of their games first. That may seem obvious, but it’s a testament to how even this series is. It’s been one of the most entertaining series we’ve seen so far.
