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After his short-handed team outlasted the Houston Rockets to win Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals, Steve Kerr took a page from Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, saying, “Our guys are f***ing giants.”
The Golden State Warriors' coach took a slightly different approach after Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and company ended the Houston Rockets' season with a Game 6 win at Toyota Center, but it's safe to say he still felt a sense pride in his players.
Article Continues Below“We just finished a conference semifinal series. We're only halfway home…and yet, the celebration in there felt like a much bigger occasion,” Kerr said, per Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle. “We're all really happy, but now, we've got to get home, get some rest and get ready for the next round.”
The Warriors' performance on Friday night is poised to go down as one of the most memorable of the last five years. Playing without Kevin Durant in a hostile environment with the opponent's back against the wall, Golden State answered the call with a 118-113 victory.
Klay Thompson scored 21 of his 27 points in the first half to keep the score tied at intermission, while Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, who scored a postseason-high 17 points in Game 6, were typically stellar on both sides of the ball. Golden State received some much-needed bench production, too, as Kevon Looney and Shaun Livingston combined for 25 points on just 14 shots, while Jordan Bell was also dusted off for 11 productive minutes.
Steph Curry, though, is most to thank for the Warriors’ gritty victory – and, at least until the fourth quarter, would have shouldered most of the blame for their loss. The two-time MVP went scoreless in the first half, but came alive when it mattered most, dropping 33 points in the second half, including 23 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the fourth quarter when the game was decided.
Golden State advances to play the winner of Sunday's Game 7 between the Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers in a record-tying fifth straight Western Conference Finals appearance.
