Warriors Struggle in Game 5 Against Rockets As Bench Rallies

As the Warriors walked off the court at halftime during Game 5 against the Houston Rockets, they were trailing by a significant margin of 76-49. Held at the Toyota Center, coach Steve Kerr turned to his seasoned forward Draymond Green with a subtle prompt. “You can sense when a game’s tide is unlikely to shift in your favor,” Kerr shared with “Willard and Dibs” on 95.7 The Game, following Golden State’s eventual 131-116 defeat. Without needing to articulate the question explicitly, Kerr simply asked, “What do you think?” Green picked up on the underlying message right away, responding with, “5 minutes.” Kerr agreed with him, knowing it was the right call.

This crucial five-minute window in the third quarter was all Kerr gave his starting lineup — Green, Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, Brandin Podziemski, and Buddy Hield. Soon, they were substituted for the reserves: Pat Spencer, Gui Santos, Quinten Post, Moses Moody, and Kevin Knox II. Despite still trailing by 29 points, Kerr had already contemplated this switch with assistant coach Terry Stotts before the half had even ended. “We considered whether putting them back on the court was worthwhile,” Kerr remarked, “Ultimately, we decided to give the starters a brief opportunity to rally, without risking injury with Game 6 just 48 hours away.”

Though the starters had a short-lived chance to alter the dynamic against the Rockets, Green was acutely aware that if significant progress wasn’t made in that brief period, changes would follow quickly. Surprisingly, it was the Warriors’ bench who closed the gap to within 11 points during the fourth quarter, prompting Houston coach Ime Udoka to deploy his starters again with 7:59 left, cutting into their recovery time ahead of Game 6. “I appreciated how the bench forced Houston into discomfort by playing aggressively and pressuring them,” Kerr noted. “The first 30 minutes had been far too easy for the Rockets, so I admired how our guys stepped up in the fourth quarter.”

Kerr mentioned it was “highly unlikely” for the starting five to return to the game, as their focus had shifted to preparing for Game 6. “My usual approach is to allow the reserves to finish it, seeing if they have what it takes to turn things around,” he stated, as they anticipated closing out the first-round playoff series at the Chase Center on Friday.