15 hours Ago
When the Houston Rockets needed their offense the most, it showed up. Down three games to one in its first round series versus the Golden State Warriors, Houston re-found its scoring streak, which has evaded it for most of the series. In Game 5, Houston scored a series-high 131 points to the Warriors’ 116, essentially issuing a blowout from the get-go.
Fred VanVleet carried over his hot-streak to Wednesday, leading all scorers with 26 points on 8-for-13 shooting, including four of his six triples. Second-year guard Amen Thompson and veteran Dillon Brooks followed closely behind, scoring 25 and 24, respectively. Other double-digit scorers included its two other starters: Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green.
Houston eventually was up as many as 31, forcing Warriors' head coach Steve Kerr to put in the bench rotation and live to fight another day. Scoring certainly hasn't been easy for Houston so far. Even accounting for Wednesday's outburst, the team has averaged just under 105 points per contest in the postseason.
Nearly every player has seen at least one down performance, with several failing to live up to their regular season standard for most of the series. Defensively, things have remained similar for Houston. They were one of the top team's in total defense in the league through the regular season, and have continued to make like hard on Golden State through five games.
While the Rockets certainly have an uphill battle needing to win their next two games to advance, one being in The Bay, they’ve at least given themselves a chance. With just how potent their defense has been all series long, all it will take is two more hot offensive performances in a row to punch their ticket to Round 2. Crazier things have certainly happened.
The Rockets and Warriors will play Game 6 on Friday, May 2..
