Plenty of teams in the Golden State Warriors position wouldn’t have even bothered on Thursday night in Houston. They would’ve waved the white flag and chalked it up as a “schedule loss.” But that’s not who the Warriors are. That’s not what a championship organization does — and yes, the Golden State Warriors are still a championship organization. They just proved it.
As the Warriors were clinging to a five-point lead with 1:12 left in overtime, and with the game seemingly under control, everything went sideways when De’Anthony Melton, who was bringing the ball up the floor, had it poked away by Rockets guard Amen Thompson.
In a desperate effort to prevent a layup, Melton — along with Draymond Green —sprinted back to foul the third-year guard, forcing the 77% free-throw shooter to earn it at the line. He swished the first but clanked the second off the rim. Houston, the league’s best offensive rebounding team, corralled the miss and turned it into a Kevin Durant three, trimming the lead to one and completely shifting momentum in favor of the home team.
On the very next possession, after Al Horford (17 points) had given Golden State a three-point cushion, Melton fouled Durant on a three-pointer, giving the 89% foul shooter a chance to tie the game with 30 seconds left.
Durant knocked down the first two but missed the third. This time, Draymond Green hauled in the rebound and dished the ball ahead to Melton, who burnt some clock, drove to the rim, missed his layup left, but ultimately tipped it in to give the Warriors a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Next man up mentality proves key for Warriors
With Stephen Curry (knee), Kristaps Porzingis (illness), Moses Moody (wrist), Gary Payton II (ankle), Will Richard (ankle) and Seth Curry (sciatica) all out, the Warriors needed players to step into leadership roles, and the entire starting five answered the call.
Brandin Podziemski turned in one of his best games of the season with 26 points (seven in overtime) and nine rebounds, while Draymond Green (10 points, five rebounds, eight assists) anchored the defense alongside Al Horford (17 points, six rebounds, five assists, two blocks), holding the Durant–Sengün tandem to just 40 points on 44% shooting. Gui Santos was a team-high +20 in 42 minutes, pairing 14 points with six rebounds and six assists. De’Anthony Melton poured in 23 points, six rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
Both Horford (33 minutes) and Melton (30 minutes) logged season highs in playing time, something Steve Kerr might get scolded for: "I played Al for almost 33 minutes so I'm probably gonna get reprimanded by Rick Celebrini, I'm willing to take my punishment for if it meant that we got the win tonight".
To put it in perspective, Golden State was missing 90 points, 20 rebounds and 15 assists on Thursday night and still managed to beat an almost fully healthy Rockets team — one that ranks top eight in both offensive and defensive rating.
Warriors produce distinct brand of winning
The blueprint was relatively simple: don’t overrely on threes, crash the glass, attack the basket, and hunt mismatches. The Warriors executed it to a tee. They attempted just 38 threes through overtime, scored 60 points in the paint, and even outrebounded Houston 18–17 on the offensive glass, generating 17 second-chance points.
Golden State went at Sengün and Sheppard (30 points, six assists) nearly every trip down — or at least everytime they had the chance to — and it paid dividends. The Turkish big man finished with a team-worst 124.6 defensive rating, and the duo posted a -9.5 net rating in the 22 minutes they shared the floor.
Golden State's hidden gems delivered once again
With how undermanned the Warriors were, they had to lean on their two-way players, and each of them contributed in some way. Malevy Leons, Nate Williams and LJ Cryer entered Thursday’s game with just 66 combined NBA appearances and only 97 total minutes played this season.
The least experienced of them, Cryer — who came into the game having played just eight minutes all season — stood out in his first meaningful stint with the Warriors. The Houston native, who helped lead the Cougars to a national championship last season, scored 12 points on four three-pointers in 20 minutes — a much-needed offensive jolt off the bench given the circumstances.
Warriors love playing in Houston
Dub Nation's last memory of Toyota Center was a Game 7 win in last year's first round series, and on Thursday night, this Warriors group gave us an another one to cherish for years to come.
“This is a good building for us. We won some playoff series here. A lot of good memories in that locker room. It’s interesting. We’ve won playoff games over the years here, and series; we won Game 7 here. You win a game like tonight, it feels the same," Kerr said postgame.
Despite everything the Warriors have been through this season, there’s one thing we just can’t take away from them: this roster fights to the end, no matter who’s on the floor, no matter who they face.