How Can the Rockets Make It Back to the Bay?

The Rockets are just one game away from elimination. However, there are elements they can lean on to win against the Warriors and force a Game 6 in the Bay Area.

Apr 28, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) drives in between Golden State Warriors center Quinten Post (21) and guard Stephen Curry (30) during the fourth quarter of game four of the 2025 NBA Playoffs first round at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets are in a dire situation with just one loss left before elimination in the first round. The Golden State Warriors had a strong game plan in each of their wins, taking away Houston's primary actions on offense with the impactful defense of Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler and Gary Payton II.

The Rockets have been close in each of the games they lost outside of a late run by Golden State at the end of Game 3. Now, Houston is looking to put together its best outing of the postseason to try to force the series into a Game 6 back in the Bay Area.

There are a few things the Rockets must accomplish to extend the series.

Houston must continue to outrebound the Warriors, but the advantage needs to be more pronounced. The Rockets outrebounded Golden State by seven boards, and just four offensive rebounds. Alperen Sengun, Steven Adams, Tari Eason and Amen Thompson are the players who helped Houston become the league's best rebounding team in the regular season.

For a team trying to make up for offensive shortcomings, crashing the glass is a crucial part of the game plan. Offensive rebounds take away some of the impact of missed shots, giving the team's shot creators the confidence to fire away if they know the team may get another possession.

Players like Jalen Green have shied away from taking shots, partly because of Golden State's active defense.

Green has struggled more than just with his shooting, turning the ball over five times in Game 4 and being taken out of the final moments. Green is the obvious piece needing improvement for the Rockets. He hasn't gotten close to his 38-point outburst in Game 2, but Houston hasn't needed offensive explosions like that to keep the games close.

Green has to find a way to be more aggressive and not allow Golden State's defense to freeze him out of games. If he were scoring close to his regular-season average, the series may have shaken out differently. Since he hasn't, the team has had little margin for error on both ends.

Defensively, the Rockets must do a better job of containing Golden State's role players. Brandin Podziemski had the best game of his young postseason career with several timely threes and offensive rebounds. Buddy Hield also contributed in the clutch.

The space Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler create is enough for their less-talented teammates to make an impact, and the Rockets can't survive high-scoring games from anyone outside of the Warriors' top two players.

If the Rockets can get a little more scoring, especially from Green, dominate the offensive glass, and stifle Golden State's secondary offensive players, they have a chance to push the series to Game 6 in the Bay Area.