It wasn’t like the game tape of the Warriors’ Game 5 playoff loss to the Houston Rockets Wednesday disclosed any secrets to coach Steve Kerr.
“Actually it wasn’t that revealing,” Kerr said Thursday in a video call with reporters. “We weren’t sharp at all, but we knew that watching it live, so I’m not sure we learned a whole lot.”
The Warriors hold a 3-2 lead and host the Rockets at Chase Center in Game 6 Friday at 6 p.m.
Of particular concern is attacking a Houston zone defense that puts Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams on the court at the same time and kept the Warriors — guard Stephen Curry and forward Jimmy Butler in particular — from being in their usual attack mode.
Butler’s troubles, Kerr said, were not related to his deep glute contusion sustained in Game 2.
“I think Jimmy will be fine tomorrow,” Kerr said. “I thought he looked good on tape. I didn’t do a good enough getting him the ball, but he’s ready to go and he’s excited. This is kind of what he does.”
Curry and Butler were a combined 6-for-22 overall and neither scored until Curry hit a step-back 3-pointer with 6:03 left in the second quarter. By that time, the Warriors trailed 52-33.
The Warriors were so out of sorts that there were possessions when Curry and Butler were on the floor together and didn’t touch the ball before a shot was taken. Curry finished with 13 points on 4-for-12 shooting and Butler had eight and was 2-for-10 before Kerr pulled the plug in the third quarter with the Warriors hopelessly behind.
“I’m not a big fan of that,” Kerr said. “I prefer when each one touches the ball or at least one of them. Something we’ve talked about all season is we have to play off Steph because of the attention he draws. And once we got Jimmy, that became part of the mantra as well. We’ll do a better job of that tomorrow night.”
Kerr said Butler’s issues were more about how the offense was operating.
“We got scattered . . . Jimmy got lost in the shuffle a little bit,” Kerry said. “The thing with Jimmy is there’s not complex or complicated about how he plays. You’ve just got to get him the ball and get spaced. We have to have better control of the game by connecting the offense and the defense and that’s when Jimmy’s at his best.”
The troublesome Houston zone was a coaching point during Thursday’s practice.
“We need to space a little better, and we just had a walkthrough and went through some of that,” Kerr said. “We have a few actions we run against zone. We’ve attacked it pretty well overall in the series and gotten some good looks. The idea behind a zone is to force other actions than what teams are used to, and the playoffs are about taking away team’s strengths.”
Houston guard Fred VanVleet (right) knocks the ball away from Draymond Green in Game 5 of the NBA Playoffs. Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group
The VanVleet dilemma: Houston guard Fred VanVleet opened the series going 6-for-27 on 3-point attempts in the first two games. In the last two, he’s 12-for-18, giving the Rockets a much-needed outside threat.
“It’s never simple. They pose a lot of problems,” Kerr said. “They have a couple of great screen setters in Adams and Sengun, massing guys. And Fred has just shot the lights out. We’ve got to stay more attached to him for sure. He got a few where we just lost our focus to where we lost our matchup and he walked into a couple of 3s.”
Draymond’s struggle: Draymond Green has never been a big stat guy, but one stood out in negative way in Game 5. One of the best passers on the Warriors, he had just one assist in almost 18 minutes.
“We can definitely get Draymond into spots to help his playmaking,” Kerr said. “It’s something we’ve talked about and walked through a few things today to get him in spots where he can create a little bit like he normally does.”
Kuminga’s status: Forward Jonathan Kuminga was scratched before tipoff Wednesday with an illness, which turned out to be a severe headache.
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“He’s feeling a lot better today,” Kerr said. “He had a migraine, he said it’s cleared up. He’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”
Who will start?: Kerr wouldn’t say whether Buddy Hield, who started Game 5, would remain in the opening lineup.
“We’re considering everything,” Kerr said. “That’s one of the things with this team is that we have to flexible every single game in how we approach it. Every team that I’ve coached has been different. We were lucky enough to basically start the same five guys plenty of seasons, but this is a team that requires a little more creativity, game-planning-wise, and all options are on the table.”