Warriors eliminate Rockets, advance to 2nd round in breezy blowout
Few doubts remained over the Golden State Warriors’ ability to defeat the Houston Rockets without Stephen Curry before Wednesday’s Game 5 in Oakland. The presumptive back-to-back MVP played just 39 minutes while active for two games before spraining the MCL in his right knee before halftime of Game 4, and the Warriors have had little trouble handling the rudderless Rockets in all but one of their matchups this series. There are questions as to how far Golden State can go without the league’s leading scorer, but Houston provided little resistance.
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In many ways, then, the Warriors’ series-ending win in Game 5 was very predictable. Nevertheless, the extent of the devastation was perhaps not foreseen. Because the Warriors never really gave the Rockets a chance in a wire-to-wire 114-81 victory that looked headed for a blowout after just a few minutes. For those keeping score at home, the Warriors outscored the Rockets by 70 points in the six quarters after Curry went down in Game 4.
Houston ended its season as it lived it — with lackluster effort, no cohesiveness, and very little pride. Meanwhile, Golden State took care of business in less-than-ideal circumstances to give everyone a few days of rest before starting a Western Conference Semifinals series against either the Portland Trail Blazers or Los Angeles Clippers.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
