HOUSTON – When the Warriors flew to Houston on the eve of Game 5 against the Rockets, the visitors knew they had some margin for error.
And they mostly played like it.
Anyone worried about a fight or scuffle on Wednesday night after a chippy Game 4 had their fears allayed until the fourth quarter as Golden State appeared listless for much of the night.
The Warriors gave up 76 points in the first half to trail by 27 and the white flag was waved by coach Steve Kerr midway through the third quarter as Houston extended the series with a 131-116 victory.
Game 6 will be played Friday night at Chase Center.
After winning Game 4, Warriors forward Draymond Green said he expected the Rockets to throw a punch.
it ended up looking like a haymaker until Kerr subbed in his reserves with the Warriors down by 30 midway through the third quarter.
That’s when things got interesting.
Led by former lacrosse player Pat Spencer and backup bigs Kevin Knox and Trayce Jackson-Davis, the Warriors cut the deficit to 114-101 with 4:14 left.
The Warriors’ backups made things so interesting, Rockets coach Ime Udoka subbed in his entire starting lineup with 7:34 to play.
Kerr kept his reserves in the game.
Spencer earned an ejection with 4:14 left after he headbutted Alperen Sengun in response to a forearm shot, marking the end of the comeback.
It was not close from the start as Houston led 40-24 after one quarter and 76-49 at halftime. The Rockets shot 25 of 36 from the field, 9 of 15 from beyond the arc and 17 of 20 from the free-throw line.
The Warriors were step slow against the desperate Rockets, who had all five starters score in double figures.
When Draymond Green and the defense forced Dillon Brooks or Fred VanVleet to take a difficult 3-pointer of floater, the shots seemed to go in.
Steph Curry scored just 13 points in 23 minutes, and Jimmy Butler was just 2 of 10.
Butler appeared to struggle to get past his defender while nursing a bruised pelvis that had knocked him out of most of Game 2 and all of Game 3. Meanwhile, VanVleet scored 23 points and Amen Thompson had 21 points.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr pulled his starters with six minutes left in the third quarter as his team trailed by 30, sending in deep reserves Spencer, Knox and others.
That’s when the bench sparked a spirited comeback that came up short.
This is not the first time Golden State has failed to show up while leading 3-1. In 2022, the Warriors had a chance to close out Memphis in Game 5 of the conference semifinals and lost 134-95. Golden State won the next game in the Bay Area.
In a tightly contested series against the Rockets, Wednesday’s game was the first real blowout.
The Warriors won Game 1 95-85, but suffered a loss in Game 2 on more than just the scoreboard. They lost Butler in the first quarter of the 109-94 defeat.
Golden State rebounded back in the Bay, taking out the Rockets 104-93 in Game 3 without Butler and then surviving 109-106 in Game 4 to take a 3-1 series lead.
The Warriors’ starters scored just eight points in the first quarter of Game 5, with Curry, Butler and Hield being held scoreless as they fell behind 40-24.
The second quarter started even more abysmally, with the Warriors failing to score for the five straight minutes, including a stretch that featured turnovers on four straight possessions.
The Rockets took advantage of those errors, jumping out to a 54-24 lead after noted Warriors antagonist Tari Eason made back-to-back shots.
It wasn’t until the 6:02 mark that Curry scored his first points on a 3-point make. Butler was held scoreless until finishing a tough layup with 2:57 left in the half.
The Warriors cut the deficit to 20, but Brooks and VanVleet each made highly-difficult, fading 3-pointers over smothering defense to keep the Warriors at several arms’ length and ensured the Rockets would play at least one more game.