Warriors defeat Rockets, Advance to Semis; Quotes of the Night

The Golden State Warriors advanced to the second round, defeating the Houston Rockets 4-1. This rematch of last year’s Western Conference Finals was even more one-sided than last year’s series as the Warriors found themselves cruising to victories without Stephen Curry who injured his ankle in Game 1 and his knee in Game 4.

Prior to this game, Rockets’ guard Jason Terry guaranteed that his team would leave Oracle Arena with a victory. He famously tattooed the Larry O’Brien on his body ahead of the 2010-11 season as a member of the Dallas Mavericks. That team upset LeBron James‘ Miami Heat in the first year of the “Big Three” era in South Beach.

This time, though, Terry didn’t quite hit the mark. Both on his guarantee and from the field, going scoreless on 0-8 shooting.

Terry’s intentions were clear. He wanted to rally the troops and try to put together something for a dysfunctional team. But the Rockets have been too much of a mess this season to really come together at this juncture against the greatest team of all-time.

Marreese Speights had a little bit of fun, but told nothing but the truth.

When Curry went down with his ankle injury, the series was supposed to have had some sort of noticeable shift. He returned to “save” the Warriors after they dropped the third game on a James Harden step back game-winning jumper. He sustained a Grade 1 MCL sprain in the fourth game, effectively sidelining him at least two weeks. This would have been completely damaging for Golden State if they didn’t have two other All-NBA talents on the team.

The Warriors are not a better team without Curry. They are good and significantly better than that hot mess in Houston, but they are not a seventy-three win team without him. Curry isn’t just a shooter, he’s the best overall basketball player in the Association.

There’s are weird narratives that follow this Warriors team that change based on convenience. Sometimes Curry is only good because the team is good. Sometimes the team is only good because Curry is there.

Klay Thompson became the first player in NBA history to hit at least seven three-pointers in consecutive playoff games. He was dropping in one long range bomb after the other. In the third quarter, he dribbled on the right ice and pulled up and sunk a three-pointer right in Harden’s face. Then on the following possession Thompson came around to the top of the arc and received a Shaun Livingston several feet beyond the line. He rose up, launched, and splashed it.

The Warriors will take on the winner of the Clippers/Blazers series.