The Golden State Warriors traveled to Houston on Wednesday with plans to eliminate the Rockets in their first-round playoff series. It didn't take very long for those plans to go dramatically awry.
The Rockets got off to a hot start, building a 16-point lead in the first quarter—and they didn't let up. By halftime the Warriors were down a whopping 27 points. And when they failed to cut into that deficit through the first half of the third quarter, head coach Steve Kerr decided enough was enough.
With just under six minutes left in the third, Kerr benched his starters and put in the backups to play out the rest of what looked like a blowout Game 5 loss.
The Warriors decide to empty their bench. Down 29 points, with 5:50 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter. pic.twitter.com/VrSxxKoQuI
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) May 1, 2025
However! The Warriors' bench squad made things awfully interesting in their minutes. The Dubs didn't roll over, battling fiercely against Houston's bench to cut what was a 31-point lead in half.
At that point, Ime Udoka put the Rockets' starters back in, but Kerr kept riding with the bench—at one point the lead got down to as little as 13 with four minutes to go in the game.
Ultimately, the comeback effort was for naught. The Rockets kept their lead on despite some late-game fireworks, and the trio of Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green didn't see the court after they got pulled in the third.
The Rockets won 131–116, and now the Warriors lead the series 3–2. Game 6 is set for Friday night at Golden State.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Warriors Waved White Flag, Benched Starters Halfway Through Third Quarter in Game 5.
