NBA Playoff Reaction 🍿 Warriors beat Rockets in Game 7, Pacers top Cavs on the road | SportsCenter

NBA Playoff Reaction 🍿 Warriors beat Rockets in Game 7, Pacers top Cavs on the road | SportsCenter

All right, let’s go to Warriors and Rockets. A game seven in Houston. Steph Curry, Alpurn Changen getting ready. Rockets looking to become the 14th team to overcome a 3-1 series deficit. First quarter, Jimmy Butler tough three. Gets it. Warriors take the three-point lead. Little later, Rockets down four. Fred Van Van Vleet air ball and then Thompson with the cleanup. Back and forth they went early on. Steph Curry did not have much of a half scoring wise, but Buddy Heel stepping up. How about that dish from Curry flipping it blind back over his shoulder and Buddy wasn’t missing. It was his world in the first half. Last second of the quarter. See what I mean? From just inside half court launch and hit 40 something feet out. Buddy Heield puts the Warriors up four after one. Warriors up eight now. Draymond over to Heel. Heield hitting everything you see. Steph not scored in half one, but finding healed. Nothing but net. Warriors open up a 14-point lead. A little later, Butler to Healed up fake create a little space. Leave the fingers up. Six threes in the half. Most in a first half in a game seven ever. Warriors up 14. And then Steph, who was scoreless to this point, finally scores in the last minute of the first half. Warriors up 12 at the break. Third quarter. Rockets try to get back in this. Alfred Shenun to men Thompson. Rockets chipping away a little later. Shenon playing some bully ball. Can’t get it to go. But what a flip in by Thompson. Rockets cut it to seven. Then I’m in. Jabari Smith Jr. out there outside. Got it. It’s a three-point game. But just when the mojo is flowing, Houston’s way. Jimmy stepping up. Another tough corner. Three. Warriors up eight after three. To the fourth quarter. Curry finally warms to the task. Puts it on the deck. Gets it to go. You get a layup and then you start to find your outside shot. Steph drills a triple. Warriors up by 13. And then Draymond back to Buddy. Heel hits another one. Warriors up by 10. Next possession. Curry again not settling for outside shots. Puts it on the floor. Warriors up by 12. But you loosen him up that way. Step back three. Yeah, Steph fully engaged now. Next possession, Curry to heal. Corner three. Buddy had 33 in this game. Steph 22, 10 boards, seven assists. And the Warriors knock off the Rockets on Houston’s home floor by 14. And as you can see, it’s not new for Steve Kirk. Now 3-0 in game seven’s away from home. It’s the most road wins in game seven by any head coach in league history. The Warriors now face the Timberwolves in the second round while the Rockets go home empty-handed despite being the two seed. All right, for more on this game seven win, Kendrick Perkins joins the show. And uh Perk, the Warriors, they really showed that championship DNA closing out this game seven. What was the key for them in this game? Well, I tell you what, that was an impressive series all across the bo board. You talk about a brawl for it all, but when you look at Golden State and people think of Golden State, they think of offense because you had the greatest shooter that God has ever created. And you think about the Splash Brothers, but they forget about the other side of the basketball and them and and them what they do on the defensive side of things, which helped them win championships. They locked down when they want to. Especially Steph Curry. Tonight was one of those nights where I go back to the last championship against the Boston Celtics where in the NBA finals he was sliding his feet, doing all the little things when he was struggling to score in that first half. That’s leadership. And then all of a sudden it was a ripple effect. We saw Pajimsky. He was getting in there getting dirty. We know what Draymond Moore and Jimmy are going to bring to the table. All of a sudden Buddy Hill Buddy Hill comes up with a block. So again, the defensive side of things was huge tonight for the Golden State Warriors, holding the Rockets to 89 points. Yeah, for sure. The defensive side, but you mentioned a couple guys there and Steph who just had three at the half and finished with 22. And then Buddy going off in the first half. Burke, how big is that for this team moving forward? They’ve got the defense that you want right now, but offensively when Buddy Heield is able to kind of pick up the pieces if Steph is having an off night, well, it’s it’s going to be huge, especially going against Minnesota because everybody was wondering who’s going to be that third guy to step up, you know, uh, for scoring wise, right? We thought it was going to be Jonathan Kaminga, but they need to sit him down for the rest of the playoffs because mentally he’s not there. But Buddy Hill tonight, especially in that first half, was huge for them. But that’s what leadership does, right? It rubs off on guys. And so we’re watching a guy play with confidence. We’re watching a coach believe in them. Steph trusts him. Draymond Green trusts him. And I thought when you get that production from those role players like a Buddy Hill, I thought bringing in Kaban Looney today uh tonight was huge for uh Golden State. Big minutes from him. We know he has that championship pedigree. It’s going to be huge for them going down the line. They’re going to need that because Steph and Jimmy, they’re going to draw so much attention. You’re going to need somebody to step up and take that pressure off of those guys offense. Definitely was buddy healed tonight with those 33 points. When you see him going down like that from the outside, everybody was looking confident out there. On the other side of the things, this Rockets team, they got a great coach, they’ve got young talent. What do they need to look for moving forward? They need a closer. They need a closer. And I tried to defend uh Jaylen Green. I mean, look, I think his future is bright. It just don’t need to be with the Rockets, right? And they have a lot of attractive pieces. If I’m the Rockets, I got to address the issue of a of of shooting and a closer. And I’m going after Kevin Durant. I package up Jaylen Green, Cam Whitmore, and Jabari Smith, and some draft picks and go out and get KD. Not Giannis, but Kevin Durant. And you pair him alongside uh Ahm Thompson, you know, uh Shankon with Fred Van Vleet, you keep big Steven Adams, and now you rocking with something. They just didn’t have enough offensive firepower tonight, especially when the, you know, the Warriors locked in on Fred Van Vleet who had been, you know, giving them that work over the last three games. Let’s talk some more NBA postseason. The Warriors, they beat the Rockets in game seven 103 to 89. four of the five lowest scoring games and the Rockets were against the Warriors. Rockets head coach Eme Udoka addressing the media. Now it’s new on Sports Center. Uh missed shots. Um close range shots I think 23 for 55 in the paint. Uh a lot of really good looks there. Didn’t get up that many threes, only 18 on the night. Made six of them. So that’s a low number for the the threes that we have been generating. And then the zone that they ran got us a little stagnant. Um and but when we did find the openings in it in the middle, uh missed the threes that would kick out or the the close-range shots. And so um as I said the other night, sometimes shots go in and makes it it masks some things. And um tonight stood out the other way. I know it’s kind of hard to look at this immediately after the season ends, but how do you view this season as a whole? Some growth, some good, some bad. Um, obviously a a poor ending to play, you know, one of our worst games in the in the playoffs in in game seven. We had a few bad ones early and kind of corrected ourselves from there in a lot of ways on both sides of the ball and then to come out a little bit flat tonight. Um, obviously that’s going to leave a sour taste in our mouth for sure, but um, you look at big picture the growth that we made. Um, you know, we just said no moral victories and whatever, we could be much more consistent, but uh getting to the two seed and 50 whatever wins and the growth that guys have showed kind of have a blueprint for where we want to be and the the standard on a year-to-year basis, but um all that doesn’t really matter when you go out with the you know, a chance to move on obviously and in advance and um you know, like I said, kind of laying an egg in our last game. It’s going going to sting for a minute. All right, we’ve heard from the Rockets head coach. Let’s hear from the Warriors. That’s new on Sports Center. All I want to congrat congratulate Houston. Um what a series that was. Um they had a great season. Um a lot of good things ahead for that team. EA did an amazing job. Um and um really the whole rebuild over the last couple years has been so impressive and u we were lucky to to get out of this series. Um, but much respect to to the Rockets and their their staff and their organization. Um, they had a they have a great team and they had a great season. Um, couldn’t be more proud of our guys. Um, that was an incredibly impressive display of resolve, discipline. U, the defense was fantastic. the ball security uh kind of game plan discipline followed to a tee and then multiple guys stepping up. Buddy healed um I don’t know what to say. I mean that was uh that was really incredible watching him light it up um in that first half especially and then down the stretch as well. But uh uh I can’t say enough about our guys and um you know what they were able to to do in this series and to to pull this thing out on the road in game seven. Pretty impressive, Steve. They they cut a 15-point lead down to like three. Jimmy gets that corner three out of a double team and then he finds Dran twice and then it looks like maybe in in the uh huddle between the third and fourth, you guys make an adjustment to get Steph attacking the rim a little bit and you got him free. What did you guys do there? Well, it’s always matchup based and um you know, so if if um if you can find an advantage um with the personnel they have on the floor, uh you know, then you um you you try to get you know, Steph and pick and roll with with um you know, a particular player or two. And um I think it just kind of played out that way the the way the game was going. you know, they they’ve done a great job of taking away the Steph Draymond pick and roll all series by putting Fred Vanvele on on Draymond and, you know, putting their center on one of our wings. And, um, so that was really a a a great strategic moveh for them. And I think in the fourth quarter, um, because of the matchups, we were able to get Draymond back in in the pick and roll with Steph a couple of times. I thought Steph was brilliant tonight. And I I know he got us got got off to a slow start shooting the ball, but the whole key to the game was taking care of the ball and he managed the game beautifully and you know it’s just a matter of time before his shot goes in. But the reason we had the 11-point lead at half or whatever it was 12 um was because of the way Steph took care of the ball, got us into our offense and and settled the game down. Let’s go to the Eastern Conference semifinals game one. Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs hosting the Pacers. And as good as the Cavs were this season, they were one and three against the Pacers in the regular season. Darius Garland, you see him on the sidelines with a toe. The Pacers, they started off strong in this one. That was a great block there from Aaron Nesmith and he’s going to finish it off pretty nicely on the other end as well. Pulls up, nails the triple. Take another look at this one. So clean all ball. Gets perfect play on that one. They were up by nine, but then Mitchell nice dish and Jared Allen throws down the poster all over Miles Turner. So the Cavs down just four now. Later in the third, Pacers up nine. N Smith catch and shoot three is good. They go up by 12. It’s their largest lead of the game. But Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs, they wake up. Four minutes left. Mitchell emphatic slam. Cavs only down by one. And next possession, more coming. Not Mitchell this time. He misses. But Evan Mobley there. Cleanup duty. Puts it up and in. Cavs take the first lead of the game since early in the first quarter. up by one. A minute later, they’re up by two. Mitchell trying to get a few more. He had 12 points in the third quarter alone. The Cavs take a four-point lead. Then final seconds of the third. Pump fake three for Miles Turner. The Pacers up by two, entering the fourth. So, back and fourth we go. Eight minutes left in the game. Cavs down two. Mitchell drives inside, scoops it in off the glass. The game is tied at 101 apiece. A minute later, Pacers down by one. Tyrese Hallebertton working step back three is good. They take a two-point lead. Then next Pacers possession. Andrew Nimhard the sideep deep three. He’s up by five. Then five minutes left. Same score. Donovan Mitchell trying to get him right back in it. High off the glass. He finished with 33. Eight straight game ones. He’s had at least 30 points passes MJ for the longest streak in playoff history. Next Pacers possession. Nimh hard another three. He had a team high 23 points. Was five of six from beyond the ark. Off the miss there. Three minutes to go. Cavs were trying to make something happened. But Pascal Seakum finishes with 17 and eight. The Pacers go up eight. And then Hallebertton give me a little bit more. Steps through. He had 22 and 13. The Pacers win 121 to 112. Here’s Hallebertton. They don’t lose a ton, you know, so they’re going to respond. Um, and so we got to be prepared for that going into game two. Um, but I thought we did a great job of weathering the storm when, you know, that that avalanche was on its way. And, uh, thought we did a great job of of weathering that. And, um, you know, once we once that happened, you know, I I I felt confident in our in our group. It’s all right. Like, this is nothing to freak out about. You know what I’m saying? Understanding that, you know, it’s a long game. They made a lot. They made some shots. And you, like I said, you got to come in and give them credit to make shots on the road. game once at that tone. That that’s credit to them. But, you know, never hanging your head doesn’t doesn’t trip. Pretty much been the message the whole time and understanding that, hey, we found some things that we can, you know, better at and we’ll we’ll be better. Speaking of those things they could be better at. Take a look at this. The game was set up beyond the three-point line. Both teams, they took nearly 40 shots from beyond the arc, but it was much different results. The Pacers, they made 19, their second most in a playoff game in franchise history, while the Cavs made just nine, their fle fewest in any game this season. Let’s break it down with Kendrick. Uh, hey Perk, this shouldn’t come as much of a shock. I mean, the Pacers beat the Cavs three out of four the regular season. They were one of the best teams in the NBA the last four months of the season. So, I guess the question now is what do the Cavs need to do to beat the Pacers? Well, one, they gota they got to trust themselves and and Kenny Atinson was bought over uh well was hired because he said one thing in that meeting that caught the front office attention that he was going to unlock a different version of Evan Mobley. Well, this is the series to do it. Evan Mobley is the X factor. He played some good basketball on both ends of the floor tonight, but 13 shot attempts and especially with no Darius Garland. This is not the series for Ty Jerome. This is the series for Evan Mobley. This is the series for them to go small, create mismatches, get him on the low block, and damn sure this is not the series for Coro. He couldn’t hood the bull in the ass with the ironing board tonight. I got tired of watching him shooting three-point shots from the corner. Damn it. I start ducking in the house. I thought one of them was going to hit me in the head. Listen, if they’re trying to win this series and get and take this Pacer team seriously, they it’s going to have to go through Evan Mobley. He is the X factor. Mr. Aoro got the worst of that segment. Uh game two Tuesday in Cleveland, a game which all of a sudden takes on added urgency for the top seed in the East. Perk sharing some insight as the NBA postseason rolls

Kendrick Perkins joins Kelsey Riggs Cuff and David Lloyd on SportsCenter to discuss the Golden State Warriors defeating the Houston Rockets in Game 7 of their first-round series as well as the Indiana Pacers taking Game 1 on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

0:00 Warriors vs. Rockets
3:15 Perk reacts
7:12 Ime Udoka news conference
8:44 Steve Kerr news conference
11:32 Pacers vs. Cavaliers
15:02 Perk reacts

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