The Houston Rockets are on to the semifinals of the NBA Cup, and with some classic NBA Cup drama.
The Rockets defeated the Golden State Warriors 91-90 in a game that went from a defensive clinic for Houston, to a resurgent show of force for Golden State, to a straight-up thriller in the final minute, to a full-on controversy in the final seconds.
Houston, which snapped a 15-game losing streak against the Warriors, will face the Oklahoma City Thunder, who beat the Dallas Mavericks the previous night, in Las Vegas on Saturday in the semifinals.
The game hinged on a wild sequence of events in the final 30 seconds. After leading by six points with a minute and a half left, the Warriors’ lead was cut to a single point on an Alperen Şengün layup with 27 seconds remaining.
Stephen Curry got an open 3-pointer and missed, but Gary Payton II got what should have been the game-sealing rebound. Until he attempted to pass the ball while prone and surrounded by the Rockets. Jalen Green got the ball and drew a foul, right after Houston had entered the bonus.
The play was perplexing for a couple reasons. Payton could have called timeout and avoided the turnover, but the Rockets also could have been called for a foul when Fred VanVleet landed on him while scrambling for the ball. The foul that gave the Rockets the game-deciding free throw was also questionable given that it very easily could have been called a jump ball.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was furious both during and after the game. Here’s how he reacted in the moment:
And here’s what he had to say while speaking with reporters after the game:
“A loose ball situation, 80 feet from the basket, with the game on the line. I’ve never seen that. Think I saw it in college one time, 30 years ago. Never seen it in the NBA. That is unconscionable. I don’t even understand what just happened.
“This is a billion dollar industry. You’ve got people’s jobs on the line … Our guys deserved to win that game or at least have a chance for one stop at the end to finish the game and that was taken from us by a call I don’t think an elementary school referee would have made, because that guy would have had feel and said ‘You know what, I’m not going to decide a game on a loose ball 80 feet from the basket.'”
“I’m pissed off. I wanted to go to Las Vegas. We wanted to win this Cup. We aren’t going because of a loose-ball foul 80 feet from the basket with the game on the line. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. That was ridiculous.”
Green made both free throws to take the lead. Golden State still had 3.5 seconds and a timeout left — thanks to Payton — but Brandin Podziemski’s attempt at a game-winner was blocked. Mistakes were made, and the result was the bucking of some history for Houston. And disbelief for the Warriors.
To be fair to the officials, there were other contributors to the Warriors loss, such as five straight empty possessions to end the game. They are reportedly the only team in the last 20 years to lose after going scoreless with multiple shot-clock violations over the last three minutes of a game.
The Rockets’ 15-game losing streak against the Warriors went back to Feb. 20, 2020. The last time the Rockets beat their playoff nemesis of the previous decade, James Harden and Russell Westbrook were involved and not a single player in Wednesday’s rotation was on that team.
This team’s young roster at least entered Wednesday with more confidence than usual, thanks to a 16-8 record and the second-best defensive rating in the NBA. That strength bore out in the first half, when they put the clamps on the Warriors in a way no one else has this season. Entering halftime, the Warriors were down 44-37 and shooting 16-of-42 (4-of-22 from 3-point range) with 10 turnovers.
But you can only keep the Warriors’ offense down for so long. By the final two minutes, the Warriors had surged to a 90-84 lead. That didn’t stop the Rockets from pulling out a win, even though Golden State had some legitimate gripes on how it ended.
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