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Dub Hub: Jimmy Butler confident Warriors will be ‘fine’ despite blowout loss in Game 5

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Golden State Warriors v Houston Rockets - Game Five
Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Thursday, May 1st.

In today’s Dub Hub:

The Golden State Warriors missed an opportunity to close out their first-round series against the Houston Rockets, losing to them in Game 5 on Wednesday night, 131-116. Golden State’s starters were thoroughly outplayed, trailing by 27 points at halftime to a Houston team that sensed the urgency of the moment.

After the Warriors failed to cut into the deficit during the third quarter, head coach Steve Kerr made the decision to pull his starters early in preparation for a must-win Game 6 on Friday.

Despite the disappointing performance, Warriors star Jimmy Butler says the team is still “fine” and remains confident in their ability to finish the job.

With the series now at 3-2, the Warriors return to the Chase Center for a critical Game 6. The Rockets have made it clear they won’t go down easy, so Golden State will need to come out with a much stronger sense of urgency than they showed in Game 5.

For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Thursday, May 1st:

Warriors News:

Warriors pull the plug early against surging Rockets, look ahead to Game 6 | The Athletic

“I wasn’t going to chase this game with Game 6 coming up in 48 hours,” Kerr said. “Unless we made a huge run, we kind of had an idea that we’d pull the plug.”

The Rockets won 131-116, a final score that doesn’t reflect Houston’s dominance in the competitive portion of Game 5 in this first-round playoff series. The Warriors’ third-stringers came out with some juice and sliced the Rockets’ lead down to 13, forcing coach Ime Udoka to put his starters back into the game. Steph Curry, having already unwrapped his thumb splint and taken off his ankle braces, asked for them back from the training staff in case Kerr wanted to go back to him. Kerr never thought about it.

“Can’t do that,” Kerr said. “When you make a move like that, the starters on the bench, you can’t go back to them. It’s not the right thing to do.”

Steph Curry comments on viral picture of his injured thumb

Warriors irked as Rockets take aim at Curry’s injured thumb | ESPN

Brooks scoffed when told what the Golden State broadcast was saying about him hitting Curry’s thumb after the release, saying, “I’ve been playing the game.”

“If [someone] had an injured ankle, I would attack that ankle every single time,” Brooks said. “So, whatever they’re saying on the broadcast, they can keep saying it.”

Steve Kerr rants about rules allowing Rockets to hit Steph Curry’s shooting hand

Scheduling update for potential second round matchup vs. Timberwolves

NBA News:

Rudy Gobert, Timberwolves show basketball world they’ve ‘figured it out’ | The Athletic

As he walked past the Lakers locker room on his way to the team bus, Edwards was hollering through the back halls of Crypto.com Arena, mocking the commentator, and Lakers super fan Shannon Sharpe’s rhyme-filled predictions that always end with “Lakers in five.”

Underneath the famous marquee sign that shows the teams who play each other, Edwards bellowed, “Ant-Man, Batman, Superman. Lakers in five.”

LeBron James undecided on future after Lakers’ first-round exit | ESPN

“I don’t know,” James said when asked how much longer he planned to play before retiring. “I don’t have an answer to that. Something I’ll sit down with my family, my wife and my support group and kind of just talk through it and see what happens. And just have a conversation with myself on how long I want to continue to play.

“I don’t know the answer to that right now, to be honest. So we’ll see.”

Hawks’ Dyson Daniels named NBA’s Most Improved Player

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

Player grades: Warriors vs. Rockets Game 5

Pat Spencer

14 minutes, 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 5-for-7 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 73.9% TS, +13

A perfect late-game appearance for Spencer. He played exceptionally well, and helped the Warriors get close enough that the Rockets had to wear out their starters a little. And then, to top it all off, he got into a scuffle and “headbutted” Alperen Şengün … not enough to be a dirty or violent play, but enough to hopefully keep the mental games moving in Golden State’s favor.

The Warriors aren’t backing down. I didn’t expect Spencer to be the one who made sure the Rockets knew that. But he was.

Grade: A+

Follow @unstoppablebaby on Twitter for all the latest news on the Golden State Warriors.