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The Rockets-Warriors series has provided a steady diet of hay producers on both sides over the past week and a half, with two of the NBA's heavyweight clubs competing for supremacy again.
But the fight and the future of the prestigious championship belt as a whole were apparently weighed down Wednesday night when superstar Kevin Durant was limped up after hitting a rider at just over two minutes of the third quarter of the fifth match at Oracle Arena. . The fact that he was not touched by anyone further exacerbated his fears: his reaction – to seize the back of his right lower leg – suggested that he could have seriously injured Achilles tendon. . Durant moved cautiously to the locker room, with Golden State maintaining a 3-point lead after maintaining a 20-point cushion a quarter earlier. At the time of his departure, the world of basketball was wondering if the chances of Golden State to add to his dynasty had disappeared.
The Warriors escaped this more existential question for at least two nights, digging deep for a 104-99 victory without courage, without Durant to take a 3-2 lead in the playoffs against Houston. They also got a reprieve in that Durant avoided an injury to Achilles, which would have ended his playoffs and eventually threatened his next season. Instead, the club felt the injury was a calf strain; Durant will prepare for an MRI on Thursday to determine the severity of the injury and the time it may possibly miss.
If Durant misses the rest of the series, at least some will compare his absence to that of Chris Paul a little less than a year ago, when the Rockets took a 3-2 lead but lost Paul to a tension in the hamstrings for Games 6 and 7. of the conference final. (Houston would abandon each of these games, as well as the series.) Still, losing Durant – the best player in the series, if not the world at this point – could have an even greater impact, even though Warriors have played without him before. .
Consider that Golden State outscored its opponents by 79 points in the playoffs with Durant in the field and 14 points in the ensuing minutes. Before leaving Wednesday's game, he had led the Warriors to score eight times in a row. His 34.2 points per game in the playoffs ranks second in the last 25 seasons, beating only LeBron James' playoff series in 2009, according to ESPN's Stats & Information group.
The fact that the Warriors have been recovering for some time at the end leaves many of us wondering if Stephen Curry and Golden State could battle each other and defeat a tough opponent without Durant. Curry and teammate Klay Thompson had both struggled fiercely against their riders earlier in the series, but Curry responded to the bell, hitting 5 of 9 players on the field for 16 points after KD's injury, a significant improvement by compared to 9 points out of 4 out of 14 he opened fire before Durant fell. (Thompson's 27 points, after accumulating 27 of the previous two games, were also huge – especially his odd turnup turned into a layup that sealed the game four seconds from time.)
On the other side, Houston is going to have a handful of regrets from the fifth match – usually an alarm signal when it breaks 2-2 in the playoffs, while 82% of the winners of the fifth match progress. – he's unable to overtake the Warriors again. In many ways, it looked like the Rockets' chance to leap.
In the fourth game, P. J. Tucker terrorized Golden State by dominating the offensive shot. But on Wednesday, Kevon Looney seemed come up with just about every key rebound, including five offensive commissions. Meanwhile, Tucker was whistled for a particularly brutal call off the court with just under three minutes of play, while his heel was on the sideline just before leveling a shot that he was not agitated, would have cut the Houston deficit to 2 points.
That did not help, just 3 out of 14, Chris Paul had the worst shooting night of his playoff career.
And perhaps even the most remarkable and breathtaking: James Harden of Houston, reigning champion and consecutive champion, has largely taken the back seat, with just one shot – a doubled with 18 seconds to play – over the last seven final minutes of action in the loss. Nevertheless, the Rockets played well in the offensive as a club, scoring 18 points over this period. But it was still somewhat shocking to see Harden not even touching the ball with several possessions of the fourth quarter. (He finished the period with only three attempts to pitch, eight fewer than he had averaged in the fourth quarter in the first four games of the series.)
With Durant set apart, Harden was released from much longer and taller defender who had limited him during the series. So, not seeing him take advantage, or even really try, was surprising, considering that he finished 7th on 7 from the inside, and with an effective score of 31 points on only 16 shots.
Nevertheless, many things can and will probably change with a day or two of game planning, especially if Durant is forced to run out of time. Things that Harden and the Rockets did not attack at Match 5 could become important points in Match 6, as the Warriors tackle their thin rotation again in hopes of mitigating the lack of During.
There are many things we do not know yet. But one thing is clear: with Match 5 in hand, the Warriors can at least breathe a sigh of relief for the moment, knowing that their backs will not be against the wall, on the road without Durant, in Game 6.
Discover our latest NBA forecast.
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