“Curry & Butler will win game 7!” – Shaq reacts to Rockets beat Warriors 115-107 in game 6, tie 3-3

“Curry & Butler will win game 7!” – Shaq reacts to Rockets beat Warriors 115-107 in game 6, tie 3-3

A road reminder from the Rockets tonight. They are the higher seed. They won more games during the regular season and they look the part tonight in game six to extend their series and force a game seven on their home floor on Sunday. The Rockets taken in San Francisco 115 to 107. This is playoff Central Live presented by State Farm. Matt Winer, Steve Smith, Isaiah Thomas right over there, guys. Rockets won three of the four quarters. Uh they controlled the fourth quarter in particular. Even though the score wasn’t that lopsided, it wasn’t that difficult to win for Houston tonight. No, they they are pretty locked in defensively in what Golden State is trying to do. Uh they’ve made it extremely difficult for Curry. They’ve given them different looks all uh defensively uh zone boxing one manto man. And again, you got to give that coaching staff, uh, Yudoka’s coaching staff a lot of credit because they’re not giving Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors the same look, right? Sometimes they trap pick and roll, sometimes they go under. You know, we’re in a league now where everybody does the same thing, they switch, and you know, it’s a copycat league, but we got one coach now who’s looking at probably got a good chance to be coach of the year. He’s saying, “I’m going to do something different against Golden State and I’m going to make adjustments.” And what we’ve seen in this series defensively, Smitty, is that uh Eay is afraid of trying something different. Stephen Adams really hadn’t played all season. And the minutes he’s played in these last two or three games has been huge. He’s been a difference. They’ve gone big while the Warriors have gone smaller. And you got to give it credit. They’re a young team, but it’s the two vets, Fred Van Vleet, Steven Adams, who have, I think, really changed these series in the last two games. Adams was a plus 15 tonight. He had 17 points and he was making them pay for that strategy while the Rockets continued to make Golden State pay for playing small with Shingun and Adams out on the floor. Sometimes Shigun Adams and Jabari Smith out on the floor. I mean, there are some things where when you watch it as a basketball player, the impact he had. If you just watch Stephen Adams on the free throw line, he is burying Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler, whether you’re getting the offense or getting offensive rebound or not, but that takes you late, Isaiah, trying to block out somebody. I mean, he’s able to knock down free throws if you want to hack a Stephen Adams. Then also, he’s making plays. He’s blocking shots. He’s getting away with some veteran pushes and nudges. And he’s communicating. veterans communicator on the floor. He’s talking him and Fred Van Vleet. I love that he was ready and he may call his numbers. Isaiah, you know, here’s what we’ve seen uh two nights uh with with coaches deciding to play big as opposed to going small. Go Bear has, you know, one of the biggest playoff nights in his history, right? He’s bigger than everybody out on the floor. And we got one coach and JJ saying, “Okay, we’re going to play small.” And the big guys go, “Yeah.” Uh, and and they eat them up underneath the basket here tonight, right? Golden State is standing small. And Eay goes, “Okay, I’mma double down. I’mma I’mma go really big, right? I’mma play Adams and Singuini, you know, Channing Fry’s name, you know, I’mma play those two together.” And because of their size, right? And this is what this is what coaches aren’t realizing. And as Smitty just pointed out, right? What the big guys have, not only do they have height, but they have weight, right? And those extra 40 to 50 pounds leaning on the small guy, right? Draymond’s is a Draymond is a strong person, but you know, playing against Adams, he’s given up 60 70 pounds. And every time 60 70 lbs lay on you, right, your legs get a little tired, you get a little weaker, you get a little weaker. And by the end of the game, right, you just wear down and consequently you see the score at the end of the game. Golden State, those those little guys running around, they didn’t have any legs. It’s not the size, it’s the weight that’s constantly leaning and leaning and leaning, and that’s where they wearing them down at. Ema Yudoka and his staff have identified that advantage. They are sticking with it the last three games. It’s been really impactful to have Adams out on the floor. Here is the Rockets head coach 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 Rockets dominated 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 picked 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. 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. [Music] Hello. Foreign [Applause] I Yeah. England. Yeah. Yeah.

“Curry & Butler will win game 7!” – Shaq reacts to Rockets beat Warriors 115-107 in game 6, tie 3-3