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Kendra Andrews, ESPN
HOUSTON — Golden State Warriors players Draymond Green and Klay Thompson stood up and shouted to the Houston crowd, “Warriors, come to the game!”
The phrase was the same one Rockets forward Tali Eason wore on his shirt before Thursday's game. But after the Warriors defeated the Rockets 133-110, a game that had major implications for the play-in, Eason entered the arena shirtless, wearing a vest and wearing a large diamond chain. I left it behind.
“That's pretty bad, especially if you're not even playing,” Thompson said. “It's one thing to be out there playing and competing and being able to support it. But are you just trolling from the sideline? What are you doing? We're talking like crazy. We're outside while you're at it.'' That's all I have to say about that. ”
Green appreciated the argumentative element of it all, but shared Thompson's sentiment that if you're going to provoke, you have to back it up on the court. Eason developed a benign tumor in his lower leg bone that required surgery and will keep him out for the remainder of the season.
“I love it [but] If you’re going to say that, you’ve got to play,” Green said. But I know what type of player he is. He welcomes them all. He welcomes the challenge and welcomes the fight. …Hopefully he'll say the same thing next year and we'll both be competing for seeding instead of competing for the play-in. ”
The Warriors' win over the Rockets almost guaranteed Golden State at least a top-10 seed, fending off an onslaught from Houston that tried to snatch it away.
Just a week and a half ago, on March 24, Houston had won eight in a row for 11 straight games and was one game behind Golden State in the standings.
The Warriors currently have a four-game lead over the Rockets with six games left in the regular season. However, Golden State is holding a season tiebreaker, so it will essentially be five games.
”[Securing the top 10] “This allows me to focus on what I can do to move up,” Green said. “When you're trying to solidify yourself, you take everything one step at a time. The first step is to give yourself a chance and give yourself a chance. Once you get the chance, what's next? What is the greatest opportunity we can give ourselves?”
Mathematically, the Rockets are not officially excluded from the play-ins.
For Houston to advance to the play-in tournament, they must either win five of the final six games and the Warriors are eliminated, or win all six games and Golden State drop at least five.
However, the Warriors are playing their most cohesive basketball of the season, so it's unlikely they'll drop that much.
After a five-game winning streak built on their defensive backbone, it was the offense that led the Warriors in Houston. Thompson scored 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting, including seven 3-pointers, and Stephen Curry also scored 29 points. Rookie center Trayce Jackson-Davis scored a career-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
After Thursday's win, the Warriors are now 1.5 games behind the ninth-place Los Angeles Lakers, two games behind the eighth-place Sacramento Kings and three games behind the seventh-place New Orleans Pelicans.
Coach Steve Kerr said the Warriors are hoping the teams higher up in the standings can rack up some losses to help Golden State rise. But the Warriors also know they have to help, especially with games against the Dallas Mavericks (the No. 1 seed) and Lakers coming up.
“Whatever your motivation is for each win, whether you're looking down or up, keep looking there,” Curry said. “It's a question of whether we keep this momentum up, because we're likely going to have to play one game to survive. I don't care what anyone is watching, but we just keep watching it. We just have to stay focused.'' What we've done is the results have shown that we're well motivated. ”
