“Fred VanVleet was cooking” – ESPN on Houston Rockets force Game 7 with road win over GS Warriors

“Fred VanVleet was cooking” – ESPN on Houston Rockets force Game 7 with road win over GS Warriors

115 107 is your final. Van Vleet a team high 27 points, eight rebounds, eight assists. Meanwhile, Steph Curry, you know, dealing with that thumb injury put up a game high 29, but wasn’t quite enough as Golden State shot 41% from the field, 30% from three-point range, but it was Houston’s defense. That was the story of this one. We’re now joined by CBS Sports NBA insiders Bill Ryder and John Gonzalez. Well, fellas, our Warriors and six estimation seemed just to be just a tad bit off. But we’re headed to game seven in Houston after Golden State came up short, well, well short in their closeout game. Bill, was this a result of Houston’s defense just suffocating the Warriors or was this maybe just a poor shooting night for Golden State? Yes, and yes. And by the way, our estimation that the Warriors are going to win this series could be way off, too, because momentum rockets. Look, this Houston defense is remarkable. They hold the Warriors. Fairly impressive offense, especially since Jimmy Butler came into the mix to limited points. Again, if you look at the starters for the Warriors, not named Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler, they combined for 13 points. Stephen Adams on the other side of the equation for the Rockets. Came off the bench for 17. So, Stephen Adams outscored three of the Warriors starters all by himself. It’s a combination of things. I thought Steph looked a little bit off. There were certainly some open looks that Warriors players were able to get and weren’t able to knock down. And maybe that’s one of the differences between this Warriors team and the team three years ago that won a title. There were role players who would hit those shots. But I think it all begins and ends with this Rockets defense. It was suffocating. It was outstanding. That’s how they’ve made their hay all year. And full credit to them. They went into Chase Center. They went into the Bay. They went into Steph’s home and they shut down that Warriors attack. And at a minimum, that’s 50% because the Rockets made it happen. Yeah, the Rockets defense was fantastic tonight, especially in the fourth quarter. And and part of that was the Warriors weren’t playing well in the fourth quarter. With eight minutes gone in the fourth quarter, the Warriors had five points. I thought, and I think a lot of people in that building thought that once the fourth quarter came around, the Warriors muscle memory and the playoffs would just kick in. The Rockets would fall off because they’re the younger team. They’re the less experienced team. And the Warriors have experience all over the court. And then instead, here come the Rockets. They got their biggest lead with seven minutes left. And just kept adding and adding and adding. and Fred Van Fleet. We said before the game, Kiana and Bill, hey, we need the Rockets need somebody to really step forward and be the the consistent scoring presence that maybe they’ve lacked for much of the season. Well, that’s been Fred Van Fleet. I’m blown away by the Rockets. They’ve had a fantastic season and now they’ve got the Warriors on the ropes. A lot of people, me, Bill, a lot of experts pick the Warriors to win this series. Well, we’ll see. Going back to Houston, I’m sure that the Warriors aren’t feeling great about that. Yeah, absolutely. And John, you touched on it because we talked about how inexperienced that this Rockets team was and they need the guy to step up. But Bill, how key has Fred Van Fleet been just to evening up this series to where we are now? Well, John said it and we have said that and that is a reality. But here’s the thing. Fred Van Vleet’s not inexperienced. That guy has won a championship, was a critical player in that Raptors team, has been there and done that. And so in retrospect, isn’t hindsight beautiful? But wouldn’t that make it so much easier to bet on these games? In retrospect, it makes sense that if somebody was going to be able, as John said, to step up on the offensive end for Houston, to really take the game by the horns, to hit those shots, to command the game from an offensive perspective for the Rockets, it was going to be the guy who’s won a championship, who’s won a title, who hasn’t been overwhelmed. I thought it was really interesting during the broadcast. They talked talked a couple times about how Jaylen Green had told them had had admitted had talked about how he was nervous, how he was worried. This is one of their young shooters who’s capable of getting really hot, who can be streaky like Van Lee. The difference is that’s a young guy who hasn’t been there, done that. Fred’s been there. He’s done that. And the fact he’s doing it again against the Warriors, in retrospect, it makes sense because this team, this Rockets team may not have a a title, a championship pedigree, but their leader does, their veteran does, and he’s bringing that out right now to very impressive effect. Absolutely. So, now it’s winner go home back in Houston. You talked about it a little bit, Bill, but has momentum officially tipped in Houston’s favor after what we’ve seen in back-to-back performances, and these aren’t just, you know, a couple point victories. These have been some massive wins for Houston. Yeah, I mean, I think it has. I will say this as it impacts what’s going to happen when we get to a game seven when you have a team that was down three to one to one a couple in a row to get there when you have on the other side of the equation Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler. I think the right analysis is this is just shoulder shrug. I I mean anything can happen and it’s look this has come down to so many things and so many factors. A game seven you throw everything you think you know out the window. John and I both covered a 3-1 series collapse by the same Warriors team back in 2016 when LeBron James and the Cavs did it. And at every step of the way, it felt like an impossibility. And I won’t speak for you, John, but covering that series when we got to game seven, I thought, “Okay, this is a nice run by the Cavs, but Draymond Green got himself suspended for a game and there was a game in Cleveland. The Warriors are going home. They’re going to close it out.” And in retrospect, they should have just shoulder shrugged and said, “We don’t know anything when we get to game sevens.” And I think that’s the reality, Kiana. Yes, the momentum matters. It’s real. It’s a factor. But whether that’s what comes up on the roulette wheel of this game, seven on Sunday or something else does, I think is anybody’s guess. Hey, speaking of roulette, Vegas sees the Rockets, their two-point favorites going into this game where we stand. John, are we looking at maybe this experience of this Warriors team maybe showing up when it’s win or go home or are you riding the wave of what we’re seeing out of Houston? Yeah, Bill’s right. The correct analysis is shoulder shrug. Look, it’s a game seven. Anything can happen. Only 13 teams in NBA history have been down 3-1 and come back to win. The Rockets have had an incredible season to do it against the Warriors, the team with more playoff experience. Absent of course, as Bill rightly pointed out, Fred Van Fleet, who’s an NBA champion, and Steven Adams, who’s got playoff experience of course, and Dylan Brooks as well. But the Rockets are on the whole the younger team. That would be a supreme feat by the Warriors. Now, that said, the Warriors, put their experience aside, there’s a couple things that make me a little nervous here. They they’ve been really sloppy with the ball in the last few games. 17 turnovers tonight leading to 22 points. You thought after the game five blowout, what’s going to happen with Steph and Jimmy? They got rested. They’re going to play major minutes, right? Well, they did. They played major minutes. Both of them 42 minutes tonight. And they both scored the ball. 29 points for Steph, 27 for Jimmy. Well, guess what? The rest of the offense was really clunky. It was hard for them to get offense outside of those two guys. That would make me nervous as well. As well as the fact that the three-point shot on the hole wasn’t falling. They only shot 30% from the uh from beyond the arc. So, man, like yeah, on top of that, the momentum, they’re going back to Houston. Rockets have home court. All of this stuff is set up for the Warriors really have to snap out of the funk from the last two games. And then the Rockets, can they get this thing across the line where they’ve surprised everybody all season long. They got the two seed. Nobody believed in them outside of Houston to win this series. It’s right there for them. History’s against them, but everything else is really in their favor right now. Yeah, and John is right. 3-1 series leads getting blown are extremely rare. And last I checked, Doc Rivers, he’s not coaching at all in the Warriors, right? He didn’t sneak in. And he he’s uh see a Doc Rivers shot that I’m just slipping into a conversation about two other teams. Uh Doc Rivers owns 25% of those of those blown leads, but but the Warriors do have one of them. I I think my normal inclination, again, shoulder shrug is my actual uh in-depth analysis. I think my normal inclination would be it’s in the margins. It’s pro it’s near a coin flip, but I’ll take Steph Curry in the coin flip. And perhaps excuse making for the Warriors incoming. Apologize to Rockets fans if you feel disrespected by this. I do wonder and worry a little about a little bit if Steph Curry is feeling that thumb injury. If the tactic that’s been widely discussed about the Rockets using that loophole to go after his thumb is impacting his shooting. We saw Steph at one point today grabbed that thumb, felt like he got fouled on the follow through, kind of looked at the ref and laughed. And so maybe I’m just making excuses for Steph. He has looked a little off. He has had a bunch of turnovers. Maybe it’s just the Rockets defense. But I think there are going to be X factors that are really hard to gauge. And that’s always true in game seven. Steph just doesn’t look right. And again, this is a really good Rockets team. If Stephen Curry is 80% instead of 95%, I and that’s an if I I think it could be a big differential. I’m going to tell you, just thinking about what Steph is going through with this, say that is bothering him. And now you’re going into playing a game seven. I know I’m getting a little ahead of myself, but that does cause a little worry for me. And this is not me Rockets fans jumping the gun here, but say they do make it to the next round. They’re a little older. I don’t know if that’s going to play into how that second round goes, but like you guys said, I’m just shrugging for this point. Bill Ryder, John Gonzalez, fellas, as always, thanks so much. And if you want more where that came from, you got to check out Bill and John on the Beyond the Ark podcast. The outing 115 107 is your final. Van Vleet, a team by 27 points, eight rebounds, eight assists. Meanwhile, Steph Curry, you know, dealing with that thumb injury put up a game high 29, but wasn’t quite enough as Golden State shot 41% from the field, 30% from three-point range, but it was Houston’s defense. That was the story of this one. We’re now joined by CBS Sports NBA insiders Bill Ryder and John Gonzalez. And well, fellas, our Warriors and six estimations seem just to be just a tad bit off, but we’re headed to game seven in Houston after Golden State came up short. Well, well short in their closeout game. Bill, was this a result of Houston’s defense just suffocating the Warriors or was this maybe just a poor shooting night for Golden State? Yes. And yes, and by the way, our estimation that the Warriors are going to win this series could be way off, too, because momentum rockets. Look, this Houston defense is remarkable. They hold the Warriors fairly impressive offense, especially since Jimmy Butler came into the mix to limited points. Again, if you look at the starters for the Warriors, not named Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler, they combined for 13 points. Stephen Adams on the other side of the equation for the Rockets, came off the bench for 17. So, Stephen Adams outscored three of the Warriors starters all by himself. It’s a combination of things. I thought Steph looked a little bit off. There were certainly some open looks that Warriors players were able to get and weren’t able to knock down. And maybe that’s one of the differences between this Warriors team and the team three years ago that won a title. There were role players who would hit those shots. But I think it all begins and ends with this Rockets defense. It was suffocating. It was outstanding. That’s how they’ve made their hay all year. And full credit to them. They went into Chase Center. They went into the Bay. They went into Steph’s home and they shut down that Warriors attack. And at a minimum, that’s 50% because the Rockets made it happen. Yeah, the Rockets defense was fantastic tonight, especially in the fourth quarter. And and part of that was the Warriors weren’t playing well in the fourth quarter. With eight minutes gone in the fourth quarter, the Warriors had five points. I thought, and I think a lot of people in that building thought, that once the fourth quarter came around, the Warriors muscle memory and the playoffs would just kick in. The Rockets would fall off because they’re the younger team. They’re the less experienced team. And the Warriors have experience all over the court. And then instead, here come the Rockets. They got their biggest lead with seven minutes left and just kept adding and adding and adding. and Fred Van Fleet. We said before the game, Kiana and Bill, hey, we need the Rockets need somebody to really step forward and be the the consistent scoring presence that maybe they’ve lacked for much of the season. Well, that’s been Fred Van Fleet, the points in the paint. I’m blown away by the Rockets. They’ve had a fantastic season and now they’ve got the Warriors on the ropes. A lot of people, me, Bill, a lot of experts pick the Warriors to win this series. Well, we’ll see. Going back to Houston, I’m sure that the Warriors aren’t feeling great about that. Yeah, absolutely. And John, you touched on it because we talked about how inexperienced that this Rockets team was and they need the guy to step up. But Bill, how key has Fred Van Fleet been just to evening up this series to where we are now? Well, John said it and we have said that and that is a reality. But here’s the thing. Fred Van Vleet’s not inexperienced. That guy has won a championship, was a critical player in that Raptors team, has been there and done that. And so in retrospect, isn’t hindsight beautiful? Wouldn’t that make it so much easy to bet on these games? In retrospect, it makes sense that if somebody was going to be able, as John said, to step up on the offensive end for Houston, to really take the game by the horns, to hit those shots, to command the game from an offensive perspective for the Rockets, it was going to be the guy who’s won a championship, who’s won a title, who hasn’t been overwhelmed. I thought it was really interesting during the broadcast, they talked talked a couple times about how Jaylen Green had told them, had had admitted had talked about how he was nervous, how he was worried. This is one of their young shooters who’s capable of getting really hot, who can be streaky like Vanley. The difference is that’s a young guy who hasn’t been there, done that. Fred’s been there. He’s done that. And the fact he’s doing it again against the Warriors. In retrospect, it makes sense because this team, this Rockets team may not have a a title, a championship pedigree, but their leader does, their veteran does, and he’s bringing that out right now to very impressive effect. Absolutely. So, now it’s winner go home back in Houston. You talked about it a little bit, Bill, but has momentum officially tipped in Houston’s favor after what we’ve seen in back-to-back performances, and these aren’t just, you know, a couple point victories. These have been some massive wins for Houston. Yeah, I mean, I think it has. I will say this as it impacts what’s going to happen when we get to a game seven when you have a team that was down three to one to one a couple in a row to get there when you have on the other side of the equation Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler. I think the right analysis is this is just shoulder shrug. I I mean anything can happen and it’s look this has come down to so many things and so many factors. A game seven you throw everything you think you know out the window. John and I both covered a 3-1 series collapse by the same Warriors team back in 2016 when LeBron James and the Cavs did it. And at every step of the way, it felt like an impossibility. And I won’t speak for you, John, but covering that series when we got to game seven, I thought, okay, this is a nice run by the Cavs, but Draymond Green got himself suspended for a game and there was a game in Cleveland. The Warriors are going home. They’re going to close it out. And in retrospect, I should have just shoulder shrugged and said, we don’t know anything when we get to game sevens. And I think that’s the reality, Kiana. Yes, the momentum matters. It’s real. It’s a factor. But whether that’s what comes up on the roulette wheel of this game, seven on Sunday or something else does, I think is anybody’s guess. Hey, speaking of roulette, Vegas sees the Rockets, their two-point favorites going into this game where we stand. John, are we looking at maybe this experience of this Warriors team maybe showing up when it’s win or go home or are you riding the wave of what we’re seeing out of Houston? Yeah, Bill’s right. The correct analysis is shoulder shrug. Look, it’s a game seven. Anything can happen. Only 13 teams in NBA history have been down 3-1 and come back to win. The Rockets have had an incredible season to do it against the Warriors, the team with more playoff experience. Absent of course as Bill rightly pointed out, Fred Vane Fleet who’s an NBA champion and Steven Adams who’s got playoff experience of course and Dylan Brooks as well. But the Rockets are on the whole the younger team. That would be a supreme feat by the Warriors. Now that said, the Warriors put their experience aside, there’s a couple things that make me a little nervous here. They they’ve been really sloppy with the ball in the last few games. 17 turnovers tonight leading to 22 points. You thought after the game five blowout, what’s going to happen with Steph and Jimmy? They got rested. They’re going to play major minutes, right? Well, they did. They played major minutes. Both of them 42 minutes tonight and they both scored the ball. 29 points for Steph, 27 for Jimmy. Well, guess what? The rest of the offense was really clunky. It was hard for them to get offense outside of those two guys. That would make me nervous as well. As well as the fact that the three-point shot on the hole wasn’t falling. They only shot 30% from the uh from beyond the arc. So man, like yeah, on top of that, the momentum, they’re going back to Houston. Rockets have home court. All of this stuff is set up for the Warriors really have to snap out of the funk from the last two games. And then the Rockets, can they get this thing across the line where they’ve surprised everybody all season long? They got the two seed. Nobody believed in them outside of Houston to win this series. It’s right there for them. History is against them, but everything else is really in their favor right now. Yeah, and John is right. 3-1 series leads getting blown are extremely rare. And last I checked, Doc Rivers, he’s not coaching at all in the Warriors, right? He didn’t sneak in. And he he’s uh see a Doc Rivers shot that I’m just slipping into a conversation about two other teams. Uh Doc Rivers owns 25% of those of those blown leads. But but the Warriors do have one of them. I I think my normal inclination, again, shoulder shrug is my actual uh in-depth analysis. I think my normal inclination would be it’s in the margins. It’s pro. It’s near a coin flip, but I I’ll take Steph Curry on the coin flip. And perhaps excuse making for the Warriors incoming. Apologize to Rockets fans if you feel disrespected by this. I do wonder and worry a little about a little bit if Steph Curry is feeling that thumb injury. If the tactic that’s been widely discussed about the Rockets using that loophole to go after his thumb is impacting his shooting. We saw Steph at one point today grabbed that thumb, felt like he got fouled on the follow through, kind of looked at the ref and laughed. And so maybe I’m just making excuses for Steph. He has looked a little off. He has had a bunch of turnovers. Maybe it’s just the Rockets defense, but I think there are going to be X factors that are really hard to gauge. And that’s always true in a game seven. Steph just doesn’t look right. And again, this is a really good Rockets team. If Stephen Curry is 80% instead of 95%, I and that’s an if I I think it could be a big differential. I’m going to tell you, just thinking about what Steph is going through with this, say that is bothering him. And now you’re going into playing a game seven. I know I’m getting a little ahead of myself, but that does cause a little worry for me. And this is not me Rockets fans jumping the gun here, but say they do make it to the next round. They’re a little older. I don’t know if that’s going to play into how that second round goes, but like you guys said, I’m just shrugging for this point. Bill Ryder, John Gonzalez, fellas, as always. Thanks so much. And if you want more where that came from, you got to check it. [Music] All [Music] right. All right. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. [Music] Okay. [Music] Fore! Foreign! Foreign! [Music] Oh, come here. [Laughter] What’s Wow. Awesome. Keep going numb. I don’t Yeah.

“Fred VanVleet was cooking” – ESPN on Houston Rockets force Game 7 with road win over Golden State Warriors

———————–
#espn #nba #lakers #lebron