Warriors vs Rockets G5 Preview: The final game of the off-season season? Curry Butler is aiming for a 4-1 victory

At 7:30 a.m. Beijing time on May 1, the Rockets played against the Warriors at home, starting Game 5 of the series. In the first four games, the Warriors led 3-1. Curry and Butler are aiming for an away win to advance to the next round. Will this be the last game of the season for Houston?

In the G3 game, the Warriors defeated the Rockets with tenacious struggle in Butler's absence. That perseverance also paid off in G4 when Butler led the Warriors to the last laugh and get the match point.

Butler suffered an injury in G2 that left G3 unavailable. But in G4, he came back strong and helped the Warriors to a 109-106 victory

If the Warriors can make another game in Houston, they can eliminate the Rockets. They know that Butler has the ability to win games whether he plays or not, and of course, having Butler on the roster is undoubtedly more likely to win.

In G4, Butler returned to score a team-high 27 points, plus five rebounds and six assists. He hit all 12 free throws and grabbed a crucial rebound in the final minute of the game — when Rockets center Shin Kyung had a chance to shoot a basket that he missed.

Butler came to the Warriors from the Heat at the trade deadline in February, and since then, he has been an all-rounder on the court, making a huge contribution to the team.

"The atmosphere on our team is really good," Warriors head coach Kerr said, and Stephen [Curry] has played a really good lead. When Jimmy (Butler) arrived at the team, he was greeted by Stephen and the rest of his teammates, and vice versa. Jimmy really wants to play here. It's a match made in heaven. He's exactly the player we need. We have a group of teammates for him who he really likes. It's really interesting to watch all this slowly run in and get better. ”

In contrast, the Rockets, who are the No. 2 seed in the West, had a less pleasant time playing Butler. The Rockets' young players have always exposed their inexperience in crunch time, whether at the free-throw line — the Rockets have conceded as many as 35 free throws throughout the series or in the decisive moments of the game.

In this series, the Warriors scored nine more points than the Rockets and scored 15 points in the fourth quarter of the three wins. Whenever a game goes to the decisive stage, the Warriors always show strong execution on both offensive and defensive ends.

"Everybody's frustrated," Rockets head coach Udoka said, "but they also understand that in those four games, the one we played well won big; In other games, the margin was often between one ball and we were leading in the fourth quarter and we couldn't hold on. ”

"In this series, consistency is the key to winning, and we've been saying that from the very beginning, the whole team has to be more consistent in every way. The plan for the next step was clear: go back to home and win one game and then go back to San Francisco (for Game 6). ”

Judging from the current trend of the series, it will be extremely difficult for the Rockets to achieve their goals. Young core players such as Shin Kyung, Jalen Green, Amen Thompson and Eason have had their performances up and down. The Warriors have a lot more playoff experience than they do.

The Warriors players also know that winning their final game will not be easy. "We can't take that lightly," Curry said, "and everybody knows that it's extremely difficult to play a game that ends a series because the opponent will have their backs and gambles, and if you're playing on the road, it's going to be even more difficult." ”

List of injuries and illnesses

Warriors: Butler is likely to play

Rockets: Tate is out

ESPN predicts the win rate: Warriors 48.0%, Rockets 52.0%