Four keys for the Warriors to win Game 6 and eliminate the Rockets

SAN FRANCISCO There was no panic among the Warriors veterans on Wednesday night none of the band s superstar core seemingly all that concerned with dropping Competition of their first-round series against Houston on Wednesday After the - loss that saw coach Steve Kerr yank the starters in the middle of the third quarter Steph Curry Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green calmly assessed the countless things that went wrong Throughout their general evaluation a sense of we ve been here before and know what to do pervaded their statements The Warriors missed their chance at ending the series in five games but are still up - with a trip back to the Bay on the schedule We turned the page fleetly Green reported We just started talking about attainable adjustments we can make things we see stuff we can get into With Challenge set for p m Friday here s what Golden State requirements to do to advance to the second round and a showdown with the Minnesota Timberwolves Stay out of foul trouble Golden State had four fouls in the first four minutes of play and got into the bonus at the mark of the first quarter That barrage of fouls helped Houston get to the line times during the fourth quarter where the usually shaky Rockets made every single one And those fouls could not be blamed on youthful inexperience Green Butler and -year-old Buddy Hield each had one foul and Curry was called for two I didn t have them ready to play clearly Kerr reported We committed three fouls in the first two minutes of the meeting We can t come out with that lack of defensive focus and vitality and expect to beat a great unit in a closeout challenge Get to the line Along those same free-throw lines it would certainly help the Warriors to get a sparse easy points early in the encounter They did not attempt a single foul shot until the middle of the second quarter when Gui Santos split a pair to make it - at the mark This is an area where the association has gotten help from Butler who revealed he s feeling slightly better each day as he recovers from a pelvis injury sustained in Event Butler averaged a team-high free-throw attempts per encounter in the regular season and shot -of- from the stripe in a Battle achievement Butler shot just five in minutes in Battle but has proven he can draw fouls with the best of them in a much larger sample size We re fine Butler mentioned Our confidence is unwavering and we know we can start out better and play better Force Jalen Green to beat you Fresno-area native Jalen Green remains an offensive enigma for the Rockets At his explosive athletic and shotmaking best he scored points on an array of tough jumpers in Houston s Match mastery But he has also been held to under points in each of the other four games the lowlight coming when Buddy Hield locked him up on multiple possessions during Tournament He has shot just of outside of Battle and has been an inconsistent playmaker The Warriors could be well served to take their chances with Green gunning out of the pick-and-roll and not the hot-shooting Fred VanVleet -pointers made and combined points over the last two games Stay composed Related Articles Warriors coach Steve Kerr on Championship tape I m not sure we learned a whole lot Kurtenbach The Rockets zone defense has the Warriors in the danger zone Why are Rockets not being called for hitting Curry s thumb NBA rules explained Warriors accuse Rockets of targeting Curry s injured thumb It s pretty obvious Alijah Arenas published from hospital and resting comfortably after car accident Match was so uncompetitive that it took until late in the fourth quarter when the Warriors reserves made a comeback and forced the Houston starters back into the match to see either unit get a technical That has not been the development for the majority of the series as Tari Eason Dillon Brooks and Alperen Sengun have done their best to muddy up the match and try to get into the heads of Green and the Warriors vets Before and during the series Kerr has stressed the importance of maintaining poise The Warriors have done a decent job of it so far and that will need to continue in Contest