Warriors vs Rockets Game 6 Preview: Facing elimination, the Warriors must dig deep to force a decisive game 7

Look, if the Warriors had one shot, one opportunity to build a dynasty and seize everything they ever wanted as a franchise. One legendary game six moment. Would they capture it or just let it slip?

Throws hoodie on

Cue the beat

Klay’s palms are sweaty, Andre’s knees weak, Kevon and Bell’s arms are heavy. There’s vomit on Curry’s jersey already, Sonya Curry’s spaghetti. Steph’s nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready, to drop bombs from three, but he keeps on forgettin’ the play Kerr wrote down. The Oracle crowd goes so loud, Draymond opens his mouth to the refs, but the words won’t come out. Chris Paul flops. The Warrior’s are chokin’, how, all of sudden the media heads are jokin’ now. The game clock runs out, times up, Rockets win, series over, blaow!

Snap back to reality, oh there goes Steph’s court gravity. Oh, there goes Durant, he dunks! He’s so mad, but he won’t give the ball up that easy? No. He won’t have it, he knows his old Oklahoma City ropes. He ISOs. It don’t matter.

The teams so stacked, Durant knows, if he goes back to the Hamptons, that’s when it’s back to the practice gym again. He better go capture this game six and hope the moment don’t pass him.

Dubs better dictate themselves in the gameflow, the pace they must own it, that lead they better never let it go! They only get one shot to force a game seven on the road, do not miss the chance to glow. This opportunity to create a dynasty only comes once in a lifetime!

Game Details

WHAT: Rockets vs. Warriors, Game 6 (Rockets lead series 3-2)

WHEN: Saturday, May 26, 6:00 p.m. PST

WHERE: Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA

WATCH: TNT

LISTEN: 95.7 the Game

Blog Buddy: The Dream Shake

Chris Paul and Andre Iguodala injury status

Although the Rockets have the upper hand in the series with a 3-2 lead, they were dealt a heavy blow when Chris Paul suffered a non contact injury in the last minute of Thursday’s contest in Houston. He has now been ruled out for game six with a hamstring strain.

It’s unfortunate because this series has been highly competitive and Chris Paul was playing as if his life was on the line in game five. This certainly sways some momentum back to the Warriors especially if they are able to get Andre Iguodala back. It’s still unknown if he will be able to suit up for game six, but his absence has truly been missed.

Why are the Warriors unable to play in their game flow?

Throughout the series, the Warriors have looked out of sorts and off their game. When the Warriors are able to dictate the flow of the game and play comfortable in their style of play, there is not a team that can beat them in a best of seven series. Problem is, they have always had trouble when they have had to adapt to the other teams’ style of play.

Taking a look at the passing stats for the series and during the regular season series, the trend has dipped just about every game. That number for game five was just 257. The ball isn’t moving and the team’s assists are down. During the season, the team averaged in the range of 300 passes a game and we were seeing assist totals closer to the range of high 20’s to 30’s. Now the Warriors are barely notching 15 - 20 assists per game.

Much of that can be attributed to the defensive adjustments the Rockets have made that have constricted the Warriors ball movement.

Is that truly due to Houston altering the pace or the team finally hitting a wall because of physical and mental fatigue? It could be a mix of both, but their late game execution has clearly shown indications of cracks in the armor.

Are we in store for an epic game six in Oakland?

This marks the first time the Warriors have trailed in a series in exactly two years. The Warriors faced this same instance when down 3-2 heading into a hostile Oklahoma City Thunder arena and came out victorious off a virtuoso performance from Klay Thompson.

While the absence of Chris Paul will play a big factor for the Rockets, the Warriors cannot bank on the Rockets gifting the Warriors a win. Eric Gordon will likely be inserted into the starting lineup in replace of Paul and proved he was more than capable to function efficiently in that role during the season when Paul was out for over a month.

Gordon has arguably been the Rocket’s most consistent player this series, so there is no reason to believe that he won’t come out firing in game six.

The Warriors finally find themselves in a vulnerable position as they have been pushed outside of their comfort zone. Nevertheless, when faced with adversity and their backs against the wall, these are the moments when legendary performances will be noted in the basketball history books.

As fans, these are the moments we live for. Four game sweeps are nice and far less stressful but they are often forgotten as time goes on.

If you are headed to Oracle arena for game six

Cheer with all your might; make sure the team hears you. Whether you are at a bar, at home, or listening from your car radio, rise as one and keep the faith alive.

Dubnation assemble!!!

Game prediction: Warriors 115 - Rockets 108