Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler sent a defiant message after the Houston Rockets forced a Game 7 following their 115-107 win in Game 6 at Chase Center on Friday.
“We’re good,” Butler told reporters after failing to close out the series at home. “We’re smiling. We’re listening to our music, celebrating life. We’re ready to compete.
“We were ready to compete tonight. Things didn’t go our way. We’re going to be ready to compete on Sunday. We’re going to make the game go our way.”
The Rockets went on a 20-5 run in the fourth quarter to turn an 86-84 lead to 106-89 with 4:40 to play that put the game away.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr and Butler agreed that Rockets guard Fred VanVleet’s four-point play at the start of the fourth quarter was the pivotal moment that triggered their downfall.
“That’s on us as a staff to make sure we’re matched up,” Kerr told reporters. “That felt like a game-changing play.”
“Anytime you start the fourth quarter not organized, not matched up is definitely deflating,” Butler said of VanVleet’s four-point play.
But he didn’t pin the loss on just that play.
“That definitely turned the tide, but we’re not going to sit here and say that’s the real reason why we lost,” Butler added.
Warriors Losing Ground in Rebounds and Free Throws
Butler blamed the Warriors’ inability to grab rebounds and win the 50-50 loose balls.
“That’s been the story of the series,” Butler said.
Getty Jimmy Butler laments the Warriors’ inability to grab the 50-50 loose balls.
The Rockets have controlled the rebounding battle, averaging seven more rebounds than the Warriors.
But that’s only a symptom of a bigger problem for the Warriors.
The younger Rockets seemed to want it more than the Warriors, who looked old and lacked aggressiveness in their last two games.
Houston has attempted 38 and 46 free throws in Games 5 and 6, a sign that they have been taking the fight to the Warriors, who looked slow to rotate and were just settling for fouls. Golden State only took 22 free throw attempts each in the last two games, with Butler and Stephen Curry combining for 25 of the 44 attempts they took.
Houston’s two-big lineups featuring Steven Adams either with Alperen Sengun or Jabari Smith Jr. have wrecked havoc on the Warriors’ small-ball lineups.
Batman and Robin Need Help
Butler refused to say it’s about a lack of energy that did the Warriors in the last two games.
“It’s just if you want to do it or not,” Butler said. “That’s the bottom line. If you want to rebound, if you want to dive on the floor, if you want to take a charge, all those little things are if you want to do it. It’s really simple.”
But the Rockets have made it life difficult for the Warriors with their zone defense that has given little space for Curry to get his outside shots off, that swarmed Butler to eliminate his mismatch hunting.
Curry and Butler combined for 56 points in Game 6. The rest of the starters only scored 13 points.
The onus is for the rest of the Warriors to step up and help their Batman and Robin.
“Confidence. Keep them confident,” Butler said of what he and Curry can do to muster enough support. “It’s not on y’all, it’s on all of us. We’re gonna win together, we’re gonna lose together. But I know we’ll win on Sunday.”
