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Maybe not a 29-point win but when Chris Paul was limping at the end of Game 5, we all sort of expected the Golden State Warriors to win Game 6 and force a Game 7 back in Houston.
That's not to downplay their effort in Game 6. Nobody was going to give them the win without playing and they really had to earn it after they trailed not only after the first quarter (22-39) but even at halftime (51-61). Over the last two quarters of the game, they outscored the Rockets 64-25 with another huge third quarter (+17), something we didn't see in Game 5.
In the post-game press conference of Game 5, Steve Kerr said: "I'm extremely confident we'll take care of business [win Game 6 at home]."
Draymond Green said something along the same lines but in his own tone - " You’d be a fool not to believe me. If you don’t ever believe anything I say, believe this: We’re a group of champions.”
Although CP3 missing the game had a lot to do with it, both [Kerr and Green] come out looking really good as they walked the walk after talking the talk.
Here are 5 biggest talking points from Game 6:
A tale of two halves for the Warriors defense
In both their previous wins, the Warriors talked about being locked in on defense, and that being the biggest reason for the wins. In a must-win Game 6, a team of their caliber, you would expect the Dubs to be more clinical not just on defense but on both ends of the floor.
Unfortunately, Golden State came out missing assignments on defense, failing to communicate for switches and even looking at each after blown rotations on screens and so forth in the first half, especially in the first quarter.
The second half was another story altogether. Yes, the Warriors' shots started falling so that kept them in the game but their defense was huge as well, holding the Rockets to just 25 points in the second half.
They closed the airspace on the Rockets' shooters (Trevor Ariza, PJ Tucker, Eric Gordon, and James Harden), who had shot 11-of-22 (50%) on 3s in the first half and 8-of-12 (75%) in the first quarter). In the second half, Houston shot 4-of-17 from beyond the arc.
They contested each shot better and that eventually fueled their offense, which exploded for 93 points in the last three quarters after just 22 in the first period.
Splash brothers explode as the real Warriors' offense reappears
In their two losses in Games 4 & 5, the Warriors allowed the Rockets to dictate the pace of the game. As everything slowed down, Golden State went more to Kevin Durant isolation plays, which the Rockets could respond to by switching everything on the weak side. Thus, negating all the Warriors' back cut and split cut actions.
Over those two games, the Warriors averaged 93 points and 16 assists which are way off their usual offensive numbers.
They made amends in Game 6.
Their shots might not have been falling in the first half but they were playing Warriors basketball by assists on 13 of their 20 field goals at halftime. They still had 8 turnovers, which too much for one half but they took care of that as well in the third quarter where they assisted on 6 of their 11 field goals with just 1 turnover.
Chris Paul's absence was quite evident
The Rockets had mucked the series up by slowing the pace down and running their isolation-heavy offense through their All-Star caliber backcourt of James Harden and Chris Paul.
So everybody can praise Eric Gordon all they want but he is not Chris Paul. Missing CP3 means there isn't a primary ball handler with the bench, which is only two players (Gerald Green and Luc Mbah A Moute) anyway since Gordon had started the game.
In their previous 2 wins, the Rockets committed 10 turnovers each time which is far below the league average and even their average in these Playoffs. But in Game 6, they turned it over a series-high 21 times. That doesn't happen if CP3 is there.
Moreover, unlike Games 4 & 5, when Harden started to disappear in the second half, there was no Paul to carry the load.
Fatigue and Turnovers cost Houston the game
We have already discussed the turnover problem the Houston Rockets had in Game 6. Them committing those mistakes is what kept the Warriors in the game.
The Rockets led by as many as 17 in the first half but could never keep it at that because they allowed the Dubs to hang around by turning the ball over - 5 in the first quarter (4 by James Harden), 6 in the second and third quarter each and then 4 in the final period.
Now, fatigue had nothing to do with the turnovers because the latter were occurring right from the tip but it's not difficult to understand why fatigue might have played a role in this loss. Key players on both teams were heavy 40+ minutes in the past two games and with Paul's injury, those were going to go even higher for the Rockets.
Not to mention, their short rotation. With Paul in Game 5, Houston predominantly relied on a 7-man rotation with Gordon and Gerald Green coming off the bench. So in Game 6, Mike D'Antoni was forced to play Mbah A Moute eight minutes to give at least some additional rest to his key guys.
Even with the game going to garbage time for the last 5 minutes or so, the three most important players for Houston played with hardly any time off - James Harden (40 of essentially 43 minutes of competitive basketball), Trevor Ariza (39 of 43) and PJ Tucker (37 of 43).
Klay Thompson
Stephen Curry had 29 points, Kevin Durant had 23 and Draymond Green stuffed the stat sheet with 4 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 blocks and 4 steals but the Warriors' best player in Game 6 was, without a doubt, Klay Thompson. There's just something about possible elimination Game 6's that bring out the best in him.
He had 35 points tonight on 56.5% shooting and 64.3% (9-of-14) from beyond the arc but he was also working more than ever on the other end of the court. Making Harden earn each point and finishing with 4 steals for the game.
Very rarely do you see Thompson as animated as he was today. He was talking back and gesturing to the crowd multiple times after he made a 3 or got a defensive stop to get them hyped. When Klay gets rolling, the Warriors are really playing "their offense" because so many of his shots are off cuts and screens. And that's the way, Steve Kerr would want them to play and not isolations or one-dribble pull-ups.
