HOUSTON — Rockets center Dwight Howard expressed confidence heading into Game 5 in Oakland and his team needing a win against the Warriors to extend the series.
“Game 5 won’t be the last game for us,” he said after the 121-94 loss in Game 4. “That means we’re going to try to win.”
Asked if he was guaranteeing a win, Howard said, “I said we’re going to try to win.”
The Warriors are 41-2 at home in the regular season and playoffs, but are unlikely to have Stephen Curry available for Game 5 on Wednesday due to a knee injury.
The Rockets do have the experience last season of coming back from a 3-1 deficit against the Los Angeles Clippers and advancing to the Western Conference finals to face the Warriors.
“They ain’t laying down,” said Draymond Green, who noted the Rockets’ comeback.
“We’ve got to come out, and we’ve got to take the game and know that it’s not going to be easy, know that Steph probably won’t be playing and do what we’ve got to do to win the game and bring the energy to Oracle. We can’t just come out and expect, ‘Oh, we’re at home, done deal.’ They’ve been in this position before, and they’ve proved otherwise.”
In Game 4 at least, Howard did his part.
He led the Rockets with 19 points and a game-high 15 rebounds after a dominant 14-point, 10-rebound performance in the first half.
He had five dunks on his way to 6-for-6 shooting in the first half.
“The only way we can overcome it is if we believe in each other,” Howard said of the 3-1 deficit. “You don’t quit on each other. That’s the only way, and it’s easier said than done. But for us to beat this team, we have to put aside anything, any egos and play for each other.”
Iguodala scored 22 points and was 3 for 4 from 3-point range. On defense, he helped slow down Houston’s James Harden, who was held to five second-half points.
“Everything kind of settles down for me,” the NBA Finals MVP said of his playoff performances. “I don’t know why, but everything gets a little slower. I just feel just waking up like, ‘OK, we’ve got a purpose today to go out and play,’ and I think the playoffs bring the best out of me.”
Iguodala turned it up a notch on offense after the Warriors trailed by as many as seven in the second quarter.
He hit a 3-pointer to give the Warriors a 52-50 lead, stole the ball and passed it to Harrison Barnes for a dunk, and then had a left-handed dunk over Donatas Motiejunas to tie the score at halftime.
“He was just awesome,” Kerr said.
“I hate the rule,” Kerr said. “I hate fouling and watching guys parade to the foul line. At no other level of basketball in the world do we have this rule. In college basketball, high school, FIBA, you foul a guy on purpose intentionally away from the ball, it’s two free throws and the ball. It’s not a basketball play. As long as the rule exists, we’ll try to take advantage of it when we have to, when we need to. And I think it’s something that needs to be changed. It’s gotten kind of silly.”
Howard finished 5 for 13 from the free throw line. The Rockets employed the strategy as well, hacking Festus Ezeli and James Michael McAdoo.
For more on the Warriors, see the Inside the Warriors blog at www.ibabuzz.com/warriors. Follow Diamond Leung on Twitter at twitter.com/diamond83.
