The Golden State Warriors made their case as the biggest threat to Oklahoma City in the West last week, beating the Nuggets and Lakers.
On Sunday, the Houston Rockets gave the blueprint for beating the Warriors. The Rockets’ long, athletic defenders swarmed Stephen Curry and took the ball out of his hands, selling out on him and daring anyone else to beat them.
Rockets were on full sell-out-on-Steph mode. They really did not want Steph to dictate things on the ball lol pic.twitter.com/Pru0trrSua
— Joe Viray (@JoeVirayNBA) April 7, 2025
The result was Stephen Curry finishing with 3 points on 1-of-10 shooting and 1-of-8 from 3, and the Warriors, as a team, had 20 turnovers, which allowed the young legs of the Rockets to get out and run in transition. The result was a 106-96 Rockets win.
“If we keep them in their half-court sets and make them run their s***, we’re fine,” Gary Payton II said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “But when they leak out and get athletic and get easy buckets, that’s when they’re a problem. If we take care of the ball, we win that game.”
Nobody else on the Warriors stepped up. Jimmy Butler had 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting, Brandin Poddziemski had 19 points, and Buddy Hield scored 20, but the Warriors’ playmaking was gone, and they struggled to score.
You can be sure other teams took note heading into the playoffs, though not every team has the athletic defenders and young legs the Rockets do to pull it off. The Warriors also just had an off night, there would be counters to this, and not every team has the depth of athletic defenders the Rockets does, but the blueprint is out there. How well teams can copy it remains to be seen.
The Rockets’ attack was balanced: 24 points from Dillon Brooks, 21 from Jalen Green, and 19 points with 14 rebounds from Alperen Sengun. Houston has beaten Oklahoma City and Golden State in the last week, which should give them confidence heading into the playoffs.
