10 Things from a Roller Coaster of a Night on Warriors Ground

The Warriors took a 3-2 series lead with Wednesday’s 104-99 win over the Rockets at Oracle Arena. Although the result was victory, the path to it was anything but smooth. Here are 10 things – some good, some bad, some funny – about an emotional victory on Warriors Ground.

As time expired on the Dubs’ Game 5 victory, Stephen Curry took a few steps toward halfcourt and got in a catcher’s crouch position. Curry called it “a moment of reflection,” as the Warriors won a game in which Kevin Durant exited with injury, and one in which they lost a 20-point advantage. Curry certainly had a big role in the win, overcoming early struggles and shooting 5-for-9 from the floor, including 2-for-3 on 3-pointers, in the final 14 minutes of the game, or after Durant suffered the injury.

“Honestly, it was a little deflating for a second,” Curry said on his postgame moment at halfcourt. “Then we rallied. So all the different rollercoaster of emotions tonight. At the end of day, it's about winning or losing, trying to endure to the finish line. We were able to do that tonight.”

Kevin Durant stopped a 15-4 Rockets run with a much-needed basket for the Dubs, and as he started to head back to play defense, he suddenly started limping. Durant then limped into the locker room, and shortly after the team announced that he had a strained right calf. An MRI today confirmed the initial diagnosis of a calf strain, and he'll stay in the Bay Area for treatment as the team heads to Houston for Game 6. Durant will be re-evaluated next week.

For a guy who only had five points, Kevon Looney certainly had a big impact. He was the one who recovered the loose ball on the Dubs’ final possession, leading to a Klay Thompson layup that put the game out of reach. Looney was the one who grabbed an offensive rebound, extending a possession in which Thompson connected on a 3-pointer to put the Dubs up by eight with 2:34 left in the game. Looney had nine rebounds in the game, five of which were offensive rebounds. And don’t forget those two clutch free throws he made with 4:27 left in the game. Those were incredibly clutch, putting the Dubs up by three when the Rockets were looking like they might be able to steal this one on Warriors Ground.

“He's a really, really smart basketball player,” Kerr said. “He understands the game just innately. He's in the right place at the right time.”

Dub Nation is no stranger to the passion of Draymond Green, and Wednesday’s game was certainly a Draymond game. That was best exemplified in a 17-second stretch when he drew an offensive foul called on the Rockets’ Chris Paul. It came at a crucial time with the Dubs up 91-88 with 3:39 left in the fourth quarter, and Green’s reaction to it drew a technical foul, putting a bit of a damper on Green’s excellent defensive play. But it’s safe to say that he made up for it, sinking his second trey of the game on the Dubs’ ensuing possession, which quite possibly was the Dubs’ biggest shot of the game.

“Pretty much summarized Draymond in a nutshell right there,” Kerr said. “It's who he is. Unbelievable competitor. He makes big shots when we need him to, makes big plays, gets the crowd into it.”

In other postgame comments, Kerr called Green the team’s “emotional engine,” and he certainly got things started for the team on Wednesday. He had assists on eight of the team’s first 12 made shots and finished the game with 11 helpers. It was his fourth game of the postseason with at least 10 assists, and second in the last three games. Among players who made it to the second round of the playoffs, Green ranks second in postseason assists (8.1 apg), and it’s also worth noting that he’s had double-doubles in five of his last six games.

There’s no word on whether or not Klay Thompson took a dip in the bay prior to Game 5, but he certainly had a refreshing performance after a couple rough ones in Houston in which he shot a combined 11-for-31 from the field. On Wednesday, Thompson was hot early, getting warmed up with three straight makes within the perimeter before knocking down a pair of threes from nearly the same spot on the floor in the first quarter. Thompson led the Dubs with 27 points, shooting 11-for-20 from the field and 5-for-10 on 3-pointers, his first game shooting over 50 percent from the floor since his 32-point effort in Los Angeles last round that came after his famous dip into the ocean the day prior.

“I'm never going to waver with my confidence when it comes to shooting the basketball,” Thompson said. “That's what got me to this point. Just want to be aggressive from the jump, make the right play. It's that simple.”

So, have you noticed that this Warriors-Rockets series has been a close one? Of course you have, and your blood pressure has probably noticed too. In fact, each of the first five games have been decided by six or fewer points, the fourth postseason series in NBA history where that has occurred. So far, the home team has won each game, something the Dubs will look to change on Friday night in Houston.

“The series has been a battle,” Thompson said. “Each game, such little margin for error. We know we're going to have to be near perfect to go down to Houston without Kevin and win a game. It's going to be hard. That's what the playoffs are all about, how tough it is to win. It's what makes it so special during the whole run.”

Through the first five games of the series, the Dubs have had the early advantage in each game, out-scoring Houston in the first quarter of each game. The Dubs have been especially hot at the start of their three home games in this series. The Dubs’ overall differential in the first quarter is +36, and +32 in the three games at Oracle Arena, which includes the 31-17 advantage the Dubs held at the end of the first quarter of Wednesday’s game.

With the Warriors dominating the action early, the same can be said about the Rockets in the second and third quarters. In the 10 second and third periods of this series so far, the Warriors have out-scored the Rockets just twice. Houston is a +29 in the second quarter of this series, having not been out-scored at all in that period. The third quarter has been a little bit more back-and-forth in nature, as the Rockets’ +14 (29-15) on Wednesday turned their third quarter advantage to +9 in the series.

That’s a lot of numbers, and then there’s this: The Rockets led by as many as 17 points in the third quarter before the Warriors came back and forced overtime in Game 4, when Houston ultimately pulled away. In Game 5, the Warriors led by as many as 20 points but eventually lost that lead before a late push delivered the win. The fact that the two largest leads in this series were lost – and eventually regained – goes to show how close this series has been. No lead is safe!

During his postgame press conference, Coach Kerr alluded to an expletive-laced quote from Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp commending his players’ abilities after the team’s improbable 4-0 win over Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal. Kerr then offered this in reaction to the team’s gutty Game 5 victory: “I apologize to my mom who is probably watching, but our guys are f***ing giants. That was an unbelievable victory tonight.”