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Philippines, 15 May 2025 |
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Butler, Green Show Up on Rockets in 109-106 Win By Teodoro Medina Reynoso PhilBoxing.com Tue, 29 Apr 2025  There's a reason why Miami used to be a dangerous playoff team when Jimmy Butler was still there (incidentally, Miami got swept by #1 Cleveland Cavaliers earlier today via a 138-83 rout). There's also a reason why Steve Kerr insisted on using Draymond Green on seven-foot Alperen Sengun in defense despite repeatedly getting burned earlier. Butler and Green showed the young and bigger second-seed Houston Rockets why, as the two led #7 seed Golden State to a hard-earned 109-106 win in game four, coming within another win of pulling off the biggest upset in the Western Conference first-round playoffs. Though obviously still not on talking terms since Butler's bad fall off Amen Thompson resulting in a pelvic concussion (which Butler blamed on Draymond pushing Thompson), the two showed great professionalism in contributing to the win. Butler showed why they call him Playoff Jimmy as he scored a team-high 27 points and pulled down 5 rebounds, including the game-clinching carom after Green finally succeeded in forcing Sengun to miss on a semi-hook that could have given the Rockets the lead with time winding down. Instead, Butler was awarded two free throws after the Rockets desperately tried to grab the rebound from him. Jimmy sank both charities to up Golden State's lead to three, 109-106, with time down to four ticks and Houston having no time-out and having to inbound from long court. Fred VanVleet's desperation three-point shot only touched the lower strands of the basket as time expired. There were other heroes for the Warriors, including Stephen Curry, who despite not having his usual game and committing errors, continued to pump up his teammates and the fans with occasional triples and drive-in layups on the way to 17 points. But it was Brandin Podziemski who took up the slack by scattering 26 points. And then there were Buddy Hield and Quentin Post, who were good for 15 and 13, respectively. Earlier, it appeared that Houston would go on and tie the series as the Rockets came from a poor start to make it a game, with Sengun time and again scoring against Green, and Fred VanVleet continued to hit from downtown as Steven Adams virtually shut down the Warriors in the paint. Amen Thompson, Dillon Brooks, and Jalen Green also were making their shots while playing hard-nosed defense on Butler and Curry and trying to get under Green's nerves. But Golden State hasn't gone this far only to allow a bunch of mostly sophomore pros reinforced by a few veterans to bully it. Eventually, the Warriors' experience and championship pedigree started to make the difference where they were needed or mattered the most in a closely fought game. The defeat was particularly hard for Sengun, who saw his game-high 31 points go to waste, and also for VanVleet, who was at his most productive in this series thus far, finishing with 25 points spiked by five triples. Game five returns to Houston, where the Rockets fight for their lives. The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.  |
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