Free throw 46-22! Rockets dragged into tiebreak 3-3, Green set a record, Curry 26+6, the Warriors lost 2 innings in a row

Editor|Lao Kankanqiu

On May 3, the first round of the NBA 2024-25 season's playoffs ushered in the focus of the Western Conference. The Golden State Warriors returned to their home court, facing the Houston Rockets, and officially started the sixth game of the series. Currently, the two teams have a big score of 2-3. The Rockets played against the Warriors in three quarters in the life-and-death battle, and won a game with strength at home, but the Rockets are still standing on the edge of the cliff. If they lose another game, they will bid farewell to the playoff stage. Obviously, this game is another back-to-earth battle. If you win, you can drag the series back to home court to face the tiebreak. "As the series deepened, we have figured out the Warriors' tactics," said Rockets coach Uduka. "We try to limit some of their tactics by consuming their physical strength and put them into a personal singles state. This is what we want!"

It is worth mentioning that in the game of G5, no starting player in the Warriors team played for more than 26 minutes. With more than 6 minutes left in the third quarter, head coach Cole had already removed all the main players and gave up this game. This behavior is indeed intriguing and deliberately made it suspected. "I'm already ready to let the main players play longer today, and they're obviously ready!" Kerr said in an interview with the media before the game, "If the game is in a stalemate, the main players may play for 40+ minutes, and we don't want to play G7." Before the game, US media ESPN also gave a prediction of the winning rate of this game: the Rockets' winning rate plummeted to 39.6% (as high as 52.0% compared to G5), while the Warriors' winning rate increased to 60.4%. Obviously, ESPN is still optimistic that the Warriors can end this round of the series in G6. In this game, in terms of starting, all the players of the Warriors can play. Kerr's starting five-man lineup is: Stephen Curry, Buddy Hilder, Gary Payton II, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green; on the Rockets, Langdale and Tate are absent, and the starting lineups are: VanVleet, Jaylen Green, Dillon Brooks, Amen Thompson and Shin Kyung.

The first quarter started. Zhu Meng received the ball at a large open position and then adjusted the three-pointer, which scored the Warriors' first point in the game. Then he started to make a living, Zhu Meng hugged Jaylen Green, and the referee added a first-level malicious foul after watching the video. Shin Jing hit Zhu Meng with a strong attack under the basket. After scoring the above basket, the Rockets led 11-5 to 6 points. Curry protected the rebound and made a long pass in the backcourt quarter-pointer, assisting Butler to counterattack and make a layup. Shen Jing got the frontcourt board in a messy battle and made a dunk. He has scored 8 points now, 4 of 5 shots have been scored. Curry made a quick stop and scored a throw-in, then faced Jaylen Glenn's three-pointer and scored 5 points in a row, and the Warriors overtook the score. Bojie first created a cover foul by Shen Jing, and then caused Di Long to have an offensive foul. His defensive awareness was really good. Shin Kyung got the ball and wanted to make a layup, but Curry fouled. The latter had already made two fouls and was replaced. Jaylen Green beat Murray in the last attack, and was blocked by the latter's big hat. After the first quarter, the Rockets led the Warriors 25-21 by 4 points. In the first quarter, Jaylen Green was still not in shape, making 1 of 5 shots in a single quarter, 0 of 3 three-pointers and 4 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist.

Back in the second quarter, Shen Jing was outrageous insulting in three shots, Butler counterattacked and made a foul on Holiday, Post received a large open space in the bottom corner and made a three-pointer, and the Warriors were still 4 points behind. Shin Kyung made a straight pass to the basket, Adams received the ball and completed a one-handed dunk. Curry made another pass after being double-teamed, and he made 4 mistakes. Amen made a counterattack layup and was fouled by Payton, and it hurt a little. The referee insisted on a normal foul after watching the video. Butler accelerated his breakthrough and layup caused Adams to foul again, and Dillon raised his hands to express his dissatisfaction to the referee. Ethan received the ball and made consecutive three-pointers, Dillon made a counterattack and made a layup, and the Rockets led by 10 points. Amen singled Curry caused his third foul, and Cole was expressionless. Curry caught the ball and hit a difficult three-pointer, and then counterattacked and hit a magical 2+1 as Dillon imbalanced throw. At the end of the half, the Warriors chased to a 5-point difference 48-53.

Half time data, on the Warriors, Curry played for 20 minutes, scored 5 of 10 shots, scored 16 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 4 mistakes, but he made 3 fouls on his back; Butler played for 21 minutes, scored 12 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists; Zhu Meng Green played for 18 minutes, scored 2 of 5 shots, scored 5 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks; Moody played for 13 minutes, scored 8 points, 1 rebound and 1 block.

It is worth mentioning that Green's assists reached 988 times, surpassing Isaiah Thomas in the NBA playoff history assist list, setting a new milestone record.

On the Rockets, Jaylen Green made 2 of 8 shots, 1 of 5 three-pointers and scored 7 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists; Shin Kyung made 4 of 11 shots, 0 of 2 three-pointers and scored 8 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists; Van Vleet made 2 of 3 three-pointers and scored 10 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists.

The side change again, Butler received the ball with a large open space and made a three-pointer, VanVleet immediately responded. Butler then faced Shen Jing and scored 2+1 in the mid-range shot. Shen Jing received the ball at the basket and beat Post also scored 2+1 in the game. Both sides played back and forth. Curry received the ball and made a three-pointer in a row, and the Warriors chased to 2 points. Jabarri Jr. received the ball at a large open position in the bottom corner and hit a buzzer, and also made two consecutive three-pointers to respond. Shin Kyung used his old trick again at the basket and once again flew Post to cause a foul. The latter was replaced in five fouls in a single quarter. Curry also made a three-pointer with Ethan's left-hand three-pointer foul, and the Warriors chased to the 2-point difference.

In the fourth quarter, VanVleet scored 3+1 at the beginning, Jaylen Green was blocked for a layup and scored a tip-in. The Rockets led by 12 points to stop the Warriors. Moody's throwing shot was still a blacksmith, Curry received the ball and did not make a strong three-pointer. The Warriors only scored 5 points in the past 7 minutes. Shin Kyung-Miao Chuan assisted Adams to easily dunk, and the Rockets led to 17 points. In the end, the Warriors lost to the Rockets 107-115, dragged into the tiebreak 3-3, and the Warriors lost two consecutive games in danger. In terms of data, the free throw ratio between the two teams is 46-22 to the Warriors. On the Warriors, Curry made 9 of 23, scoring 29 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 5 turnovers; Butler made 12 of 14 free throws, scoring 27 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists; Zhu Meng Green scored 8 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocks.

On the Rockets, Shin Kyung made 8 of 20 shots and scored 21 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals; Jaylen Green made 311 shots, 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists; Amen Thompson scored 14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals; Van Vleet made 6 of 9 three-pointers, scoring 29 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists.