© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
OAKLAND — Maybe the Warriors needed one quarter to snap out of their doldrums. Maybe they simply were not prepared for the Rockets to take a 17-point lead after the first quarter, putting Golden State’s season, and impending dynasty, in peril. Or maybe the Warriors were waiting for the third quarter, their sacred window of dominance, so they could send Houston reeling home into a Game 7.
Whatever it was, it worked.
Trailing by 10 points entering the second half, the Warriors exploded to a 33-point third quarter, while Houston managed only 16 points, to swing the game. By the time the fourth quarter had started, Oracle Arena was fully awoken, and the Warriors were fully locked in as they sought to force a Game 7 in the Western Conference Finals.
The Warriors crushed the Rockets, 115-86, to keep their season alive.
It did not start well, however. The Rockets jumped on the Warriors from the opening tip, almost to seem as if Houston was the team playing with its season on the line. One of the recurring issues that has riddled Golden State throughout this series resurfaced early: lack of offensive movement.
Kevin Durant (23 points) relied on his unstoppable one-on-one game, but it did not click. Stephen Curry (29 points) struggled to find a rhythm, missing six of his first seven three-point attempts. The Warriors generally looked uninspired, evidenced in their play and countenance.
The Rockets jumped to a 39-22 lead entering the second quarter. They made eight three-point shots, as opposed to Golden State’s eight made field goals, punishing the Warriors for lazy half-court defense and poor transition defense. James Harden was doing James Harden things, scoring 15 points in the opening period by way of his unstoppable isolation game.
The second quarter featured improvement for the Warriors. Klay Thompson (35 points) started to heat up, scoring 10 points in the quarter. Durant continued to struggle, but the Warriors clamped defensively to allow only 22 points in the quarter, outscoring Houston by seven to cut its lead to 10 points entering halftime.
All season long, the Warriors dominated the third quarter, outscoring opponents by 377 combined points in the period. They ramped up their excellence even more in the postseason, seen with ridiculous 24-2, 25-4, and 18-2 runs in separate games.
Did they have one more explosive third quarter Saturday?
It did not take long for the Rockets to find out.
The Warriors jumped out to an 8-0 run before the Rockets even knew what hit them. The easily combustible Thompson made two threes in the first 1:33 of the half. Durant settled down and made his first two shots. Curry patiently waited for his turn, which came late in the quarter. He drilled two consecutive threes to extend Golden State’s lead to eight. The Warriors outscored the Rockets 33-16 to take a seven-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
Like clockwork.
Seemingly every time the Warriors have limped to a poor start, they redeem themselves with a prolific third quarter as their opponents shudder. Aside from Game 4 of this series, they have applied the final knockout punches in the fourth quarter to put the game to rest. Golden State did it when it mattered most on Saturday, with its season on the line, to force the Game 7 in Houston the NBA world has long awaited.
It comes on Monday.