NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
A.J. Hoffman: Tweets you did not get to see from Rockets-Warriors Game 5
May 25, 2018, 7:52 am
Eric Gordon was a big reason the Rockets won. Jonathan Daniel
I didn't get to watch Game 5 live. I was at my cousin Logan's graduation, and I was able to completely avoid social media for the entirety of the night. I just got home, and knowing how much you missed my in-game tweeting of the Rockets games, I decided to live tweet my commentary on the DVR'ed game. I'll do my best to keep all my thoughts under 280 characters.
First quarter
Klay missed his first shot, but he looks like he is moving way better than he was late in Game 4. Dubs will need him to be big with Iguodala out.
The Warriors are SO SLOPPY with the ball. Turnovers are killing them this series. For a team that usually moves the ball so well, they have been horrific this series.
Rockets are active on defense. Harden playing the passing lanes well, and the Warriors look broken on offense.
Just over 4 minutes in and Harden is 0-967 from 3. This lead should be WAY bigger than it is.
I hate the intentional "try to draw the foul on the three point attempt" move. Just try and make the shot. If the contact comes, cool.
Gerald Green apparently has decided to be good this game. Rockets up 9 and on their way to a huge quarter. Game 4 they were digging out of an early hole. Let's see how they play out in front.
The Warriors have Bell, Livingston, West and Cook on the floor at the same time. How tired are they that this is a thing in the first quarter?
Second quarter
Now Curry is doing the stupid draw the foul move that I've been bitching at the Rockets about. Stupid NBA.
Oh my. Capela just ate up that dunk attempt by Draymond. #bullying
Man. Thank God Eric Gordon and Gerald Green came to play. Nobody else on the Rockets can make a damn shot.
The Rockets played too much isolation offense early in the series, but at least that is their game. When the Warriors do it I am baffled because their ball movement is what makes them so great. Why go away from that?
Capela with another block. He is having a game on the defensive end.
Man. Justin Timberlake is handsome. That guy won the friggin' genetic lottery.
It feels like the Rockets should be up by 15 at half. Then you realize that they can't make any shots. Either Paul or Harden has to step up and make something happen in the 2nd half.
The Warriors are getting literally nothing from secondary players. KD/Klay/Steph keeping them in this game somehow. But their flow on offense is still garbage.
Third quarter
Kerr, announcers and everyone talking about how valuable the David West minutes were in the first half. Maybe I was watching something different. I saw him looking confused on defense and contributing very little on offense.
Welcome to the game, Chris Paul.
Warriors starting to move the ball around finally. Passing up good shots for great shots. Maybe finding a rhythm.
The good news for the Rockets is they aren't getting boat raced in the third quarter. Kerr has dominated the halftime adjustment games until now.
Damn, Chris Paul. He is shooting some crazy shots and they are going. Now he is dancing on Steph. This is getting fun.
I know it's gotta be hard to tell James to chill out on these 3-pointers, but damn. They just said he has missed 17 straight 3-pointers. 0-8 in this game. Let Paul chuck up some more crazy looks instead.
I love Draymond but he isn't valuing the basketball in this series. Sloppy passing. Poor ball handling. He needs to tighten up.
Gordon upset about the foul call, and like Webber said, it was a clean block. But he was riding Curry's hip for about 3 steps with his forearm. That is a foul, Chris.
Rockets have a 2-man bench, and they are both BALLING OUT. Harden is a mess still, but Gordon-Green are unstoppable. Meanwhile, GSW bench is nonexistent again.
Basketball games are so much shorter when you can fast-forward through commercial breaks. Maybe the NBA should go to the hockey/soccer method and just never stop play.
At the end of this quarter I am going to google "Rakuten." I am guessing they are paying a pretty penny to advertise on the Warriors jerseys and I have never heard of that company.
That is a horrible foul call on Ariza. That is solid defense.
I get that Quinn Cook can shoot, but they need to tell that dude he is the 5th option on offense.
Fourth quarter
Rakuten is apparently an online shopping site in Japan. Like Japanese Amazon I think.
This is why you can't have David West on the floor. Chris Paul is smart enough to switch until West is on him, and he has no shot. Kerr knew this would happen, which is why West hasn't been getting minutes. What changed?
I just burped and tasted the grilled jalapenos on my burger from 9 hours ago. It burns like hell.
Damn. They go to a commercial break and the Rockets lose 2 points. They were in the lead going into that timeout.
"Quiet night for James Harden" must be their really nice way of saying Harden is playing like garbage tonight.
Gordon did the foul drawing move again. At least it works this time. Trash defense by KD. Shot clock was running down. Make him take a bad shot.
As bad as Harden has been tonight, at least he is getting to the line. Watching this game it is hard to believe he has 17 points but he is getting them at the stripe.
Man, PJ Tucker is so valuable right now. That dude is doing everything for them.
Horrible possession for the Warriors. You are losing in a dogfight game with under three minutes and you have a shot-clock violation. That should never happen.
So of course the Rockets go down and have a shot-clock violation. LOL.
Where the hell did Eric Gordon come from?! What a shot. That dude is covering up so much right now.
Uh oh.Chris Paul grabbing at his hamstring. Warriors can't take advantage. Probably because they gave another key shot to Quinn Cook.
Damn. He is acting like it is bad. They can't not have him.
Curry had the lane he wanted and missed the runner. Awesome defense by Tucker. Ariza gonna try and stretch this lead.
Tough break for the Warriors because Draymond didn't get the timeout right away. They are gonna have to take the ball all the way down the court now.
Oh Draymond. Oh man. Those reactions by Steph and KD basically tell you everything.
Gordon hits his shots (of course, because he was the man tonight) and the Rockets are gonna win Game 5. That is a hard fought win. Really got it done on the defensive end and got amazing bench play.
Hopefully CP3 is good for Game 6. Pretty wild to see the Cavs and Warriors both 1 game away from elimination.
Something tells me there will be one more game in Houston.
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Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.