By the numbers: In playoff wins, Rockets limiting Warriors star Steph Curry as a scorer

[ASFN Admin]

After a dominant home win in Wednesday's Game 5, the Houston Rockets now trail the Golden State Warriors, 3-2, in an increasingly intense first-round playoff series.

Game 6 of the best-of-seven showdown is Friday night from San Francisco. The game will tip at 8:00 p.m. Central and be televised on ESPN and Space City Home Network.

Courtesy of the Rockets' PR department, here is a statistical-based look at Game 5 trends and data points.

• In 23 minutes of play, Warriors star Stephen Curry had 13 points and 7 assists on 4-of-12 shooting (33.3%). He is averaging 28.0 points (54.5% shooting) and 5.0 assists in Golden State’s three wins this series, as compared to 16.5 points (37.0% shooting) and 8.0 assists in the two losses.
• All-time, Houston is 10-17 in Game 6 of a playoff series (0-2 versus Golden State), with the last win coming in the 2015 Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Rockets won that series despite trailing 3-1, marking one of only 13 times in NBA history that a team overcame a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven series. Should Houston win this series, it would be the 14th such occasion.
• The Rockets led by as many as 31 points in Game 5 and won by 15. Four of the five games in this series have been decided by double-digits, with Houston also winning by 15 points in Game 2. The only time the Rockets defeated the Warriors by more than 15 points in the playoffs was by 22 in Game 2 of the 2018 West finals.
• Houston scored 131 points in Game 5 after not having more than 109 points in any previous game of the series. That total is the most points the Rockets have ever scored against the Warriors in the playoffs. Houston was 22-3 when scoring 120+ points during the 2024-25 regular season, with one of the losses coming against Golden State on Nov. 2.
• The Rockets outshot the Warriors, 55.1% to 41.7%, and had 25 fewer field-goal attempts (103-78). That is Houston’s second-best shooting percentage against Golden State in the playoffs (56.6% on May 25, 2015) and just the third time the Rockets have shot 55.0% or better in the playoffs going back to 1997-98. This season, Houston was 13-2 when shooting 50.0% or better.
• The Rockets shot 32-of-38 (84.2%) from the foul line. Houston is shooting 82.8% on free throws in its two wins this series, as compared to 58.7% in its three losses. During the regular season, the Rockets were 12-2 when having 30+ free-throw attempts.
• Houston won despite being outrebounded, 49-39. The Rockets outrebounded the Warriors by an average of 10.8 rebounds over the first four games. Houston was 0-5 when being outrebounded by double-digits in 2024-25.
• The Warriors had 25 offensive rebounds, as compared to 8 for the Rockets. No team had an offensive rebounding differential better than 8 versus Houston during the regular season.
• Fred VanVleet had a game-high 26 points in Game 5 after scoring 25 points in Game 4. The Rockets were 12-2 when he had 20+ points during the regular season. Over the past two games, VanVleet is averaging 25.5 points while shooting 12-of-18 from 3-point range (66.7%), all after having a total of 34 points while shooting 6-of-29 from deep (20.7%) over the first three games.
• Amen Thompson had 25 points, 5 steals, and 3 blocks. According to the NBA.com/stats account on X/Twitter, Thompson is the fifth different NBA player (joining Charles Barkley, Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon twice, and Rick Barry) to have recorded at least 25 points, 5 steals, and 3 blocks in a playoff game, and Thompson is the youngest to have done so. Over the past two games of the series, Thompson is averaging 21.0 points on 62.5% shooting. In the first three games, he averaged just 10.0 points on 40.6% shooting.
• Alperen Sengun had 15 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in Game 5. The last Houston player to have posted those minimum numbers in a playoff game was Tracy McGrady against the Utah Jazz in 2008. Sengun is the youngest NBA player to have recorded those numbers in a non-overtime playoff game since Chris Webber in 1994.

Should the Rockets win Game 6 and force a decisive, winner-take-all Game 7, it would be Sunday night in Houston's Toyota Center (tipoff at 7:30 p.m. Central).

Given the aforementioned trends, defense on Curry will be a clear point of emphasis over the remainder of this series. Thompson, VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, Jalen Green, and Tari Eason have all spent numerous possessions against the future Hall of Famer in this series, with Thompson and VanVleet as the preferred options.

“Our ball pressure was amazing tonight, and it rattled some of their players,” Brooks said after Game 6. “Amen took his matchup personally. He was reading Steph. We need that Amen every single game, that same mentality and tenacity. It gives us extra possessions and makes their best player timid.”

More: Facing potential elimination, Amen Thompson leads Rockets past Warriors in Game 5 blowout


This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: By the numbers: In playoff wins, Rockets limit Steph Curry as a scorer

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