All the stars were out in Houston on Friday night as the Golden State Warriors snuffed out the Rockets’ championship hopes on the road. Steph Curry came alive in the second half — including a career-high 23 in the fourth quarter — as the champion Warriors rebooked a trip to the Western Conference Finals on the road.
There was a lot going on in Houston that made that win special for the Warriors. They played without Kevin Durant, for one, and Curry got to throw the win in Chris Paul’s face after the latter kicked him off the Honda Center court before the game. But the action off the court was just as spicy, starting with Emilia Clarke of Game of Thrones showing up and getting mocked with a Starbucks cup by the Rockets mascot.
Also of note: Jay-Z and Beyonce took in the action courtside, which is always fun. Twitter had a lot of jokes about the Rockets blowing it in front of Queen Bey on Friday night, but it was a game story in the Houston Chronicle that will leave the lasting story for the couple at Game 6.
Hunter Atkins’ story focuses on how various players and coaches responded behind the scenes at Honda Center following Golden State’s Game 6 triumph. It’s a great way to encapsulate the mood near the locker rooms and give fans something they often can’t see: the immediate aftermath of a professional basketball game. Also, Jay-Z was there clowning Rockets general manager Daryl Morey.
Daryl Morey looked numb. After a hard chat with Tracy McGrady, Morey entered a hallway from one side as Jay-Z and Beyoncé approached from the other. Jay-Z recognized the Rockets’ general manager and playfully used a deke move like a running back would to avoid a tackle.
“Ohhh, got him!” Jay-Z said to a companion. “You saw that?”
Beyoncé, wearing sun glasses, did not seem to. Morey did not notice either celebrity. He walked on, trying to walk away from it all.
If you’ve ever been in the halls of a middle school, you know exactly what kind of move Hova put on the dang general manager of the Houston Rockets. Think a nutmegging without the soccer ball. It’s hilarious to think about a despondent adult having perhaps the worst professional day of his career getting deked in the bowels of an arena by an equally-grown man. Adding in an indifferent Beyonce, probably used to her rapper husband doing this to other passersby, kind of sums up the absurdity of the situation for the Rockets. They can’t beat Golden State, and now even Jay-Z is getting jokes off at their expense.
