The Warriors had to win to Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals to keep their season alive… and found themselves down 39-22 to the Rockets after one quarter at Oracle Arena. That’s a Rockets team without star point guard Chris Paul (hamstring injury).
So, that was pretty dang terrible, but Golden State completely turned things around in the ensuing three quarters, and especially the second half. The Warriors outscored the Rockets 93-47 after the first quarter, and 64-25 in the second half of a 115-86 victory. That’s quite the turnaround.
Warriors fell down by 17 in the first quarter and outscored Houston 93-47 the rest of the way. That’s a 46-point turnaround in 36 minutes.
— Chris Biderman (@ChrisBiderman) May 27, 2018
Warriors held the Rockets to 25 points in the second half and nine points in the fourth quarter, setting franchise playoff records for fewest points allowed in a half & quarter.
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) May 27, 2018
Klay Thompson led the way for Golden State with 35 points — the most he’s scored in a playoff game since 2016 — and a red-hot 9-of-14 shooting from the behind the arc.
Chris Paul is every Rockets fan watching Klay Thompson right now pic.twitter.com/H9qAtyKxpo
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) May 27, 2018
The three-headed monster of Thompson, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant combined for 87 points. And after the Warriors only got four points from the bench in their Game 5 loss, they got scoring contributions from six bench players in Game 6. Like on this crazy tip dunk from Jordan Bell:
A most impressive tip dunk by Jordan Bell pic.twitter.com/dyKVx72B4c
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) May 27, 2018
So now we go to Game 7 in the series we’ve all been waiting for in months. Two juggernauts going down to the last game, with the winner being the *heavy* title favorite. It’s in Houston which is good news for the Rockets as they try to take down the defending champs, but they’d much rather have Chris Paul than a home game.
Think they missed Chris Paul?
The Rockets had 26 assist opportunities in Game 6, their fewest in a postseason game this year.
Paul was averaging 12 per game this series. pic.twitter.com/3T3Jhr0Q40
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 27, 2018
It will be interesting to see if CP3 gives it a go in Game 7. He’s unlikely to be 100%, but you could certainly understand him trying to play anyway, because this is the season; he has all offseason to rest and he’s never had a championship opportunity. But, if the injury is bad enough where he’s playing at like 50%, that’s probably not worth it, of course.
The Game 7 showdown tips off on Monday night (9 PM ET; TNT) in Houston.