In darkest moment of Game 6, Kevin Durant's faith in Warriors never wavered: 'We're winning this game!'
HOUSTON — The Rockets had taken a seven-point lead against the Golden State Warriors early in the fourth quarter, their largest lead in Game 6 of the West semifinals on Friday night.
The Rockets seemed on the verge of busting this one wide open. Momentum was one-sided, the visiting team was without its best player and all the fans gathered inside the Toyota Center were eagerly awaiting a couple more triumphant stops and baskets before erupting into pandemonium.
Rockets point guard Chris Paul (27 points, 11 boards, six assists) was having his best game of the postseason, serving as a potent one-two offensive punch in the backcourt with James Harden (35 points, eight boards, five assists).
It seemed like a Game 7 at Oracle Arena was inevitable on Sunday.
Kevin Durant, who was watching the game at his San Francisco home with his business manager, Rich Kleiman, and close friend Randy Williams, received a text at the very moment in which the Rockets were seizing control.
The message pertained to the preparation for Game 7 and what it would entail, and without hesitation, Durant promptly responded: “We’re winning this game!”
About 25 minutes later, an amped up and elated DeMarcus Cousins walked to the locker room and shouted, “I know this sh-- hurts [the Rockets]!”
In what will be viewed as perhaps one of the biggest chokes in NBA playoff history, the Rockets were eliminated in six games, 118-113, failing at home to extend the series against a Warriors team without Durant (calf injury) and Cousins (quad injury), and with Stephen Curry totaling zero first-half points for the first time in his playoff career only to explode for 33 in the final two quarters.
“That was the best 18 minutes of my career,” Curry told Yahoo Sports.
For the fifth consecutive season, the Warriors advanced to the Western Conference finals, and now they await the Denver Nuggets or the Portland Trail Blazers, who face off on Sunday.
“That was a fun game,” Klay Thompson told Yahoo Sports. “That sh-- was hard.”
Houston, for the last four seasons, has been fixated on trying to prevent the Warriors from representing the West in the NBA Finals, which made the victory all that much sweeter for the Warriors.
“I think we’re happier we beat Houston than the times we beat Cleveland,” one Warriors staffer told Yahoo Sports.
Through multiple trades and free-agent acquisitions, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey pursued versatile defenders in order to switch everything on defense, and utilized Mike D’Antoni’s offensive system of hoisting 3-pointers and converting layups and dunks to combat a Warriors core roster that was largely assembled via the draft.
From the GM to the players, the Rockets openly confessed to desperately wanting this matchup, and at times, claimed to be the better team. While celebrating with his teammates in the locker room, Warriors star Draymond Green sounded off.
“It can’t be bought,” Green said of the Rockets’ team-building methods.
With Curry saddled with three fouls in the first half, it was Thompson who carried the team offensively. He poured in 21 of his 27 points before the half, which ended 57-57.
“Klay kept us afloat in the first half with the way he played with his 21 and just hitting some big shots to kill their momentum,” Curry said. “I was in foul trouble, obviously, and couldn’t really get a feel or become assertive. Just worrying about that and at halftime we’re tied, and I had zero points. You’ve got to like that situation.”
There are no more excuses left for the Rockets.
They had two golden opportunities to accomplish their goal after Durant suffered his right calf strain in the fourth quarter of Game 5, which the Warriors went on to win. The crowd was stunned on Friday, when the Rockets faltered once again. Players exited the court with bewildered expressions.
These are the type of losses that are permanently glued to the legacies of superstars. The way in which Houston made an uproar of how officiating cost them a trip to the Finals last season only magnifies this debacle.
“We let a lot of opportunities slip away,” Harden said. “Opportunities in the last game, opportunities in Game 1 and 2. If you don’t take advantage of the opportunities, you end up on the losing side. ”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr elected to go with the starting lineup of the 2015 championship team: Curry, Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Green and Andrew Bogut.
Green said there wasn’t enough time in between games for the Rockets to prepare for an altered lineup.
“This is not what they schemed for all these years,” he told Yahoo Sports.
The Warriors and Rockets were the bottom two teams in bench scoring during the regular season. For Golden State, lack of depth, wear and tear, and age have been noted as reasons for a possible postseason failure.
But in Game 6, reserves Kevon Looney (14 points, five rebounds) and Shaun Livingston (11 points) stepped up on the road to help outscore the Rockets’ bench, 36-17.
“[I’m] shocked,” Rockets reserve Gerald Green said. “I don’t think anybody in this locker room thought today was going to be our last game this season. So, [I’m] just a little bit disappointed.”
Iguodala scored 17 points and knocked down five massive 3-pointers. With Durant sidelined, the Rockets chose to double Curry on the pick-and-roll, and Green served as a release valve, with Iguodala finding himself open.
Being surrounded by All-Stars, Iguodala can be passive at times, but these were shots he said he had to shoot.
“First off, we’re a better team with KD. When we have our full roster, I don’t need to shoot as much,” Iguodala told Yahoo Sports. “When we got three motherf---ers who can go off for 40 or 50 at any time, I’m not going to be taking shots away from them. If I’m open, we can probably get a better shot if I swing it. But when KD’s not with us, I have to take those shots because they’re doubling Steph, and I have to try to make the defense pay. That’s just being smart. I’m not going to take shots away from those motherf---ers. I know what I can do out there. I still have confidence in my abilities.”
In the closing minutes of the game, members of the Warriors’ training staff and video coordinators were inside the locker room. Outside the locker-room door all you could heard was deafening cheering and individuals banging objects with each Warriors basket.
But when the final buzzer sounded, Nick Kerr — the assistant video coordinator and son of Steve Kerr — screamed: “We’re F---ing Giants!”
“I’m not going to sit here and sugarcoat it like, ‘Oh no, you’re use to this,’” Green said. “Like yeah, we’re used to winning, but this one felt amazing.”
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