Speaker 1: Final score Houston one thirty one, Golden State one sixteen.
Speaker 1: There tomorrow, there is tomorrow. How about that a rocket's
Speaker 1: able to take care of business last night? You heard
Speaker 1: Matt Thomas just give you the final score. And with
Speaker 1: all that we say away we go in good morning
Speaker 1: here on the Sean Salisbury Show. Sean much better. We
Speaker 1: like that version much.
Speaker 2: Better, well do we? You know? I personally it looked
Speaker 2: to me like Golden State was preparing for game six.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, it just did. Now. Part of that Dan
Speaker 2: has got to be the the way the Rockets jumped
Speaker 2: out to put it on him early. I actually think
Speaker 2: it was one of those kind of test games you
Speaker 2: saw the minutes and the rest of it. One of
Speaker 2: those test games. Let's see how we start and see
Speaker 2: how this thing goes, and then we'll get our guys fresh.
Speaker 2: We won't zue too much energy after we get our
Speaker 2: ass handed to us. Had they come out and been
Speaker 2: up by the way the Rockets played against them, it
Speaker 2: might have been a different story. But it almost felt
Speaker 2: to me like, okay, let's test it. Well, tonight's not
Speaker 2: our night, let's not wear it out. And then the
Speaker 2: Rockets put it on them and put their foot down.
Speaker 2: And that's without Jalen Green dominating, and it's with Van
Speaker 2: Vliet and the whole group doing their thing last night.
Speaker 2: And I'm gonna tell you, look at the free throws.
Speaker 2: Just look at the free throws.
Speaker 1: Yeah, massive difference there.
Speaker 2: They shot almost forty of them and made what thirty
Speaker 2: two or thirty three? If I remember going to bed
Speaker 2: last night, two there you go, thirty two or what
Speaker 2: thirty eight?
Speaker 1: That's it.
Speaker 2: That's gonna win, that's gonna win games. It's it's it's
Speaker 2: it's not it's not a whole you know, there's other
Speaker 2: things that go along with it, not letting Butler and
Speaker 2: Steph Curry dominate a game and getting production from you know,
Speaker 2: a bunch of people. And Fred looked like a you know,
Speaker 2: a top notch player in the NBA last night. It
Speaker 2: looked like a guy with playoff experience. But they they
Speaker 2: gave Golden State everything, they everything that they needed last night.
Speaker 2: And I had, you know, we talked about it yesterday
Speaker 2: and we were leaving the building about you know, and
Speaker 2: at the end of the show and throughout about the
Speaker 2: Rockets and that we felt that they'd win this ballgame
Speaker 2: and head back and it was one of those that
Speaker 2: Golden State got a pretty good feel early on that
Speaker 2: the Rockets came to play and they were sharp from
Speaker 2: the free throw line. See, it goes to show when
Speaker 2: you do this. Now it's the teaser. You can't give
Speaker 2: us the fact that, well, you know, they're just not
Speaker 2: a good free throw shooting team, whether it's concentration or focus. Now,
Speaker 2: there's a lot more that goes into this game. But
Speaker 2: it isn't it uncanny how you say, okay, even if
Speaker 2: you didn't watch going in, the first thing you did
Speaker 2: was say, okay, look at Butler and Curry's line, and
Speaker 2: then how they play shooting free throws. The you know,
Speaker 2: the unforced air Can you go to the line, make
Speaker 2: them or miss them? What's that damage due to either
Speaker 2: you or the other team if you're good or you're
Speaker 2: not at the line, And that'll tell you the story
Speaker 2: of the game. It definitely just and it did. Yeah,
Speaker 2: we just did.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it definitely did. And you know a couple of
Speaker 1: things of what you just mentioned right there. I mean
Speaker 1: one is you know, the the good what you mentioned
Speaker 1: with the free throws thirty two of thirty eight, fifty
Speaker 1: five percent from the field, for the night.
Speaker 2: That was the next thing that might have even been
Speaker 2: just as important the way they shot it. I mean
Speaker 2: to interrupt you, Dan, was their their ability to knock
Speaker 2: down high percentage of shots from a lot of different
Speaker 2: places last night.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was massive. And you know the other part
Speaker 1: of it too, is you mentioned I mean, I do
Speaker 1: see what you're saying about Steve Kerr saying, hey, look
Speaker 1: we've got a lifeline here. This night's just not going.
Speaker 1: It kind of reminded me of there was a regular
Speaker 1: season game, I think it was the second to last
Speaker 1: meeting these two teams had, and it was the shoe
Speaker 1: was on the other foot. The Rockets were the ones
Speaker 1: that the starter is just getting blown out. Imidoka said,
Speaker 1: you know what, why don't you guys take the rest
Speaker 1: of the night off. And then you've got Jay, Shawn Taate,
Speaker 1: Nate Williams and Jock Landale and all these guys nearly
Speaker 1: leading the Rockets back. And we kind of saw that too.
Speaker 1: I mean, the Rockets up by I mean what was
Speaker 1: their largest lead, thirty thirty one something like that, and
Speaker 1: there with about nine minutes left to go, it's down
Speaker 1: to like twelve, and you're kind of like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: they're gonna have to sweat this thing out. I've never
Speaker 1: seen the white flag waved. And the other team says, okay, well,
Speaker 1: if they're taking their guys out, we can take cars too.
Speaker 1: But then need me don't gad to quickly go back
Speaker 1: to his guys and say, hey, heat pads, ice bags,
Speaker 1: don't put them on just yet. You're going back out there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I do. I think it was I swear
Speaker 2: going in. I think it was a field game. I
Speaker 2: think he was gonna cur was going to judge energy
Speaker 2: wise and how they were playing and what you were
Speaker 2: getting out of Houston and your team and how it
Speaker 2: was played out, and you saw a playout and then
Speaker 2: you're just going, okay, just stay on reserve and we'll
Speaker 2: see how it felt to me. And that's not taking
Speaker 2: angway from the way the Rockets put it on them.
Speaker 2: I think they were saying, Okay, yeah, obviously they came
Speaker 2: in to win. You try to get out of a series,
Speaker 2: you you won't rest. You're trying to get out of
Speaker 2: a series as quickly as possible. But once it started
Speaker 2: to flow the way the Rockets had intended, I think
Speaker 2: Steve Kerr was not going to over exert, especially down
Speaker 2: thirty plus. You aren't going to say the energy it's
Speaker 2: going to take to get us back in with our
Speaker 2: starters and win this game on the road for a
Speaker 2: team that we handled it, you know, we got the
Speaker 2: series in control, and what it would have taken for
Speaker 2: And think about it. Now, they've they've got a few
Speaker 2: veterans to get a little long in the tooth. Qualified players,
Speaker 2: but long in the tooth. So let's test this thing
Speaker 2: and see what it is. Hey man, if you're in
Speaker 2: a four hundred meter race and you're at the three
Speaker 2: hundred meter mark and the guy's got you by forty meters,
Speaker 2: I'm going to suggest that's right, and it's the quality,
Speaker 2: and it's a qualifying heat and you just got to
Speaker 2: get to the final run. You ain't trying to win
Speaker 2: the race at that point in time. You're just getting
Speaker 2: in safe and healthy so you have a chance to
Speaker 2: run in the final. Were your last eight runners? Now,
Speaker 2: four hundred meet, I got that extra burst the energy.
Speaker 2: You try to go too much, you still qualify, but
Speaker 2: you finished the second qualifying and you'd sent that last
Speaker 2: under me is just out of pride and ego trying
Speaker 2: to chase the guy down and now you've exerted everything.
Speaker 2: So when you get to the final, you finished sixth.
Speaker 2: It looked him And maybe I'm wrong from somebody else's
Speaker 2: vantage point, and I think it had to do with
Speaker 2: the Rockets putting it on him early. They don't misunderstand me.
Speaker 2: If Golden State's up fourteen, they're playing there, guys, you're
Speaker 2: getting they're getting minutes, and they're going to go try
Speaker 2: to close this thing out. But the way the game
Speaker 2: shaped up, and you could see pretty early what was
Speaker 2: happening with the way that the Rockets were playing and
Speaker 2: knocking down free throws and the way they were shooting
Speaker 2: the basketball and playing on the defensive end, they did
Speaker 2: a hell of a job of it, especially early in
Speaker 2: the game. And to get that lead at that point
Speaker 2: in time, I think Steve Kurb made that decision of Okay,
Speaker 2: this gets in within six or eight. Maybe it's a
Speaker 2: different story, but and you're right in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 2: I'm sitting there watching thinking, okay, it's started to close
Speaker 2: down a little bit. But they were able to stave
Speaker 2: it off. But I don't think that they were in
Speaker 2: there at a huddle at a time out at the
Speaker 2: beginning of the fourth quarter or in the third saying
Speaker 2: all right, everybody back in, we're going to go try
Speaker 2: to win this thing. Not saying they quit, but they
Speaker 2: paced themselves late after the Rockets had put their foot
Speaker 2: on their throat early, and it got to the point
Speaker 2: where saying we're waiting for the you know, the final race,
Speaker 2: and we're not. We're not. We're not meaning you know,
Speaker 2: I qualified for this. Now we'll go back to game
Speaker 2: six and deal with you in our building with a
Speaker 2: full amount of energy. Not did we over exceeded to
Speaker 2: still lose by seven if that would have been the case.
Speaker 2: I think that was a whether you like it or not,
Speaker 2: it was. It was I think absolutely part of what
Speaker 2: they were trying to do. Once they knew you're down
Speaker 2: thirty plus, that's a lot of energy to get back
Speaker 2: into it. Even if you say, well, the games are
Speaker 2: never over, but imagine exerting all that energy, Dan, and
Speaker 2: then the game's too You still get beat and now
Speaker 2: you've got to go back and deal with game six,
Speaker 2: and it's like, okay, man, it took a lot of effort,
Speaker 2: you know, it just did so Rockets. I mean it
Speaker 2: was because of them, but I got news for you.
Speaker 2: At Golden State, they'll be fresh legged ready to go
Speaker 2: after that ass whoop. And it was for the most
Speaker 2: part last night. And now you got to go back
Speaker 2: in their building and see how it is. But impressive
Speaker 2: effort shooting the basketball and the when they got free opportunities,
Speaker 2: they knocked him out. Now they knocked free throws down
Speaker 2: and that was a huge That's what I was watching
Speaker 2: for him. How are you how's Jalen going to play?
Speaker 2: And they were still able to overcome. But look what happened.
Speaker 2: He did not He's had four or three not real
Speaker 2: good games. Last night was I mean, he got them.
Speaker 2: He got himself about seven eight rebounds, so he played decent.
Speaker 2: He was in the plus category in the game. He
Speaker 2: just didn't score like you used to. And they still want,
Speaker 2: you know, handsomely why because the other things we just
Speaker 2: talked about. They played defense, they shot the basketball well,
Speaker 2: very well, and they knocked down free throws and free opportunities,
Speaker 2: which thirty two of their points came into free throw line.
Speaker 2: That's at thirty eight you know opportunities. So that was it,
Speaker 2: and then Golden State decides, well you know that decision
Speaker 2: was made in the third quarter. I believe that I
Speaker 2: we'll see in games.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, but for the good that the Rockets did.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the defensive part of it, and you know
Speaker 1: that's something we can talk about too as the show
Speaker 1: goes along. I mean, that was the nice thing to see.
Speaker 1: I just I thought that we saw a more free
Speaker 1: flowing team last night. Like I think that we saw
Speaker 1: the team that we saw fifty two times this year
Speaker 1: be able to play really good basketball and be the
Speaker 1: team that's the number two team in the West. So
Speaker 1: it was nice to see that version as opposed to
Speaker 1: the h we're in the playoffs. This is different type
Speaker 1: of version that I think we had seen for at
Speaker 1: least three times in this series.
Speaker 2: So what Dan it looked to me also just talking
Speaker 2: about that, you know, we went into this saying, okay,
Speaker 2: they got a couple veterans that have been in the
Speaker 2: league for a minute, got a ring, meaning I mean
Speaker 2: Fred van Vliet with his ring. My thought was, and
Speaker 2: we talked about it, don't don't play not to lose
Speaker 2: and too cute and okay, that's that naive thing that
Speaker 2: a lot of young players who've not been in a
Speaker 2: playoff situation, like I don't know what this is supposed
Speaker 2: to look like. So to me, it's just another basketball
Speaker 2: game at the gym, or series, should I say and
Speaker 2: just go let it rip? Well, I think they've been
Speaker 2: tentative at times in this series. It's Golden State, it's
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, it's you know, we're in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: We haven't been in this situation a while. We're the
Speaker 2: two seed, so it can be overwhelming. And also to
Speaker 2: the point where you're playing not to lose. You're getting
Speaker 2: really fine and cute, which you want to do, but
Speaker 2: you don't want to be thinking about that. You just
Speaker 2: want that to be natural. And we said going into
Speaker 2: last night, let it rip. Man, you're not getting it
Speaker 2: done by, you know, trying to methodically and overthinking everything
Speaker 2: and standing at the free throw line and bricking shots
Speaker 2: up and going nineteen to thirty one. Last night, it
Speaker 2: looked like a team that said, you know what, if
Speaker 2: we're going home, we're going home on the terms that
Speaker 2: we are just letting it rip and playing like a
Speaker 2: team that's got it. It's relaxed and has the three
Speaker 2: to one lead. And it showed last night. They looked
Speaker 2: like a young, energetic team with some proper veteran leadership
Speaker 2: that did their thing and got a lot of people
Speaker 2: into it on the defensive offensive end. And even when
Speaker 2: one of your top scores again for the five games
Speaker 2: is hovering around double digits, you know, eight nine, what'd
Speaker 2: he get eleven or something last night? Whatever it was,
Speaker 2: so and then everybody else did their job, and then
Speaker 2: you shot free throw. So yeah, I thought last night
Speaker 2: not just free flowing. I thought last night looked a
Speaker 2: lot more relaxed. Whether that means you were in your building,
Speaker 2: but you've got to bring that same energy and that
Speaker 2: same I don't want to say you don't care about
Speaker 2: the result, but there's something to be said for I
Speaker 2: don't care about the result. It's it's the journey. Just
Speaker 2: enjoy along the way. The result will take care of itself.
Speaker 2: We do that, and it will take care of itself
Speaker 2: at Golden State too. If they do the same thing,
Speaker 2: play like they did last night, they can go into
Speaker 2: Golden State and win in that building. And now and
Speaker 2: now it's a whole different We're looking a whole different
Speaker 2: coming back for game seven.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, and that that was the other part
Speaker 1: of it too, I mean, just you know, being able
Speaker 1: to play the way that they did last night. And
Speaker 1: you know, more importantly, Sean, you didn't get knocked out
Speaker 1: in five. I mean it's like I said, there's two
Speaker 1: scenarios that are embarrassing for you in a playoff series.
Speaker 1: You get swept or you lose in five. And the
Speaker 1: Lakers can't say that because they got knocked out last night.
Speaker 1: Paul Bracito whatever.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what do you think about their performance?
Speaker 1: Well, it wasn't necessarily the performance. It was their head coach.
Speaker 1: And that's something we're going to get into as the
Speaker 1: show goes along, because I am all the way out
Speaker 1: on that guy. I have been, but this completely pushed
Speaker 1: me off the edge last night.
Speaker 2: So you're out on JJ Red.
Speaker 1: He is such a d dude, Like I just I
Speaker 1: can't deal with them, And you can take whatever interpretation
Speaker 1: of d that is, and we'll let you hear from
Speaker 1: him as the show continues. Well, also get into some astros.
Speaker 1: They're off today, but they lost just a seven four
Speaker 1: to the Tigers. So all of these things at your disposal,
Speaker 1: John on the Northwest Side, to see you right there.
Speaker 1: We'll get to you here and we'll continue here on
Speaker 1: The Sean Salisbury Show.