Desperate Rockets ward off Warriors’ bench-led comeback in Game 5, series headed back to Bay Area

HOUSTON When the Warriors flew to Houston on the eve of Competition against the Rockets the visitors knew they had various margin for error And they mostly played like it Anyone worried about a fight or scuffle on Wednesday night after a chippy Challenge had their fears allayed until the fourth quarter as Golden State appeared listless for much of the night The Warriors gave up points in the first half to trail by and the white flag was waved by coach Steve Kerr midway through the third quarter as Houston extended the series with a - achievement Meeting will be played Friday night at Chase Center I didn t have them ready to play Kerr explained We can t come out with that lack of defensive intensity and potential and expect to beat a great band in a closeout encounter They set a tone we re going to need in Encounter After winning Match Warriors forward Draymond Green noted he expected the Rockets to throw a punch it ended up looking like a haymaker until Kerr subbed in his reserves with the Warriors down by midway through the third quarter That s when things got compelling Led by former lacrosse competitor Pat Spencer and backup bigs Kevin Knox and Trayce Jackson-Davis the Warriors cut the deficit to - with left The Warriors backups made things so fascinating Rockets coach Ime Udoka subbed in his entire starting lineup with to play Kerr kept his reserves in the challenge Spencer earned an ejection with left after he headbutted Alperen Sengun in response to a forearm shot marking the end of the comeback Even though we lost the battle I thought it was crucial that we fought the way we did in the fourth quarter Kerr announced There were certain positives in what was otherwise a decisive loss It was not close from the start as Houston led - after one quarter and - at halftime The Rockets shot of from the field of from beyond the arc and of from the free-throw line The Warriors were step slow against the desperate Rockets who had all five starters tally in double figures When Draymond Green and the defense forced Dillon Brooks or Fred VanVleet to take a laborious -pointer of floater the shots seemed to go in Steph Curry scored just points in minutes and Jimmy Butler was just of Butler appeared to struggle to get past his defender while nursing a bruised pelvis that had knocked him out of majority of of Championship and all of Tournament Meanwhile VanVleet scored points and Amen Thompson had points Warriors coach Steve Kerr pulled his starters with six minutes left in the third quarter as his squad trailed by sending in deep reserves Spencer Knox and others That s when the bench sparked a spirited comeback that came up short This is not the first time Golden State has failed to show up while leading - In the Warriors had a chance to close out Memphis in Match of the conference semifinals and lost - Golden State won the next competition in the Bay Area In a tightly contested series against the Rockets Wednesday s event was the first real blowout The Warriors won Challenge - but suffered a loss in Challenge on more than just the scoreboard They lost Butler in the first quarter of the - defeat Golden State rebounded back in the Bay taking out the Rockets - in Contest without Butler and then surviving - in Tournament to take a - series lead The Warriors starters scored just eight points in the first quarter of Contest with Curry Butler and Hield being held scoreless as they fell behind - The second quarter started even more abysmally with the Warriors failing to points for the five straight minutes including a stretch that featured turnovers on four straight possessions The Rockets took advantage of those errors jumping out to a - lead after noted Warriors antagonist Tari Eason made back-to-back shots It wasn t until the mark that Curry scored his first points on a -point make Butler was held scoreless until finishing a tough layup with left in the half The Warriors cut the deficit to but Brooks and VanVleet each made highly-difficult fading -pointers over smothering defense to keep the Warriors at several arms length and ensured the Rockets would play at least one more event