The Golden State Warriors are in an unfamiliar spot, as their backs are against the wall heading into Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. The Houston Rockets took a 3-2 series lead on Thursday night, besting the Warriors and putting the defending NBA champions on the brink of elimination. Should the Rockets come out on top in Game 6 on Saturday, it’ll mark the first time since 2014 that Golden State has failed to make the NBA Finals.
The good news for the Warriors is that they’re very hard to beat on their home floor, even if the Rockets have managed to do that in this series. Add in that Chris Paul will miss Game 6and there are, rightfully, reasons for optimism among Golden State’s players and coaches.
No person is more confident about what’s going to happen in Game 6 than the perpetually confident Draymond Green. After the Warriors fell on Thursday night, Green guaranteed that the series will have to return to Houston for a Game 7.
Via Chris Haynes of ESPN:
In the locker room, Curry and Draymond Green were discussing the vibe of the series and agreed that it reminded them of the series with the Memphis Grizzlies from three years ago. They found themselves down 2-1 before winning three straight to meet the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals.
Told by ESPN that these Rockets are not the Grizzlies, Green responded assertively: “We’ll be back here for Game 7.”
And when questioned about the team’s inconsistency of late, Green replied: “You’d be a fool not to believe me. If you don’t ever believe anything I say, believe this: We’re a group of champions.”
Everything Green says makes sense, as the Warriors have kind of earned the benefit of the doubt after all of the success they’ve had in recent years. Even with the injury to Andre Iguodala and their struggles so far in the series, Golden State is capable of turning it on and running teams off the floor in a way that few (if any) teams in NBA history have ever been capable of replicating.
Still, this is unfamiliar territory for this Warriors group, so watching how Game 6 goes down is going to be fascinating, even if Green is confident he knows what’s going to happen.
(Via ESPN)
