(Update: The Mayor of Oakland, Libby Schaaf (or was it a staffer?), tweets she’s excited for Game 7, but will she host a watch party?)
It was a weird game. A very unusual NBA Western Conference Finals Game 6, and because both teams, the (one has to use caps here) Defending NBA Champion Golden State Warriors (which this space prefers to call “The Oakland Warriors”) versus the specially-designed-to-beat-The-Warriors Houston Rockets. And the Rockets almost lived out the intentions of the design, when all stars James Harden and Chris Paul were brought together in what’s called Space City.
The Rockets got ahead of the Warriors by as much as 17 points in the first half, but the Warriors pulled close to end that part of the game and go into halftime down by just 7 points. Then, when the 3rd Quarter of the game started, so did the previously sleeping Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
In the 3rd Quarter “The Splash Brothers” of Curry and Thompson hit threes that failed to fall in the first half. They combined to propel the Warriors to 33 to 16 in that quarter, then turned it on, and added timely defense and scoring from Nick Young and the Warriors bench, Oakland knotched another 31 points in the 4th Quarter versus just nine for the visiting Rockets. Klay Thompson lead all Warriors with 35 points.
The Warriors breakout performance turned Oracle Arena into “Roaracle Arena” yet again. The Warriors won, 115 to 86, and everyone’s excited, including the Mayor of Oakland, Libby Schaaf, who tweeted this message 40 minutes ago before this post was uploaded:
Gritty win by the Champs, I'm ready for Game 7 — hey #DubNation RT if you're ready for the NBA Finals to come back to Oakland. Let's do this.
— Libby Schaaf (@LibbySchaaf) May 27, 2018
Will Libby host a watch party? Stay tuned.
But the question is, can the Oakland Warriors carry that amazing play into the other-Worldly experience that will be the NBA Western Conference Finals Game 7 in Houston, Monday night?
That depends on Chris Paul.
While the Rockets did come out and look like they were going to send the Warriors home after Game 6, the Warriors re-discovered tight team defense and their three-game to win. Could that have happened with a healthy Chris Paul, and will he return for Game 7?
While all of the tweets seem to point to “no” as the answer, we’ll have to wait and see. Meanwhile, bookmark Oakland News Online and subscribe to Zennie62 on YouTube. Stay tuned for our Sunday through Thursday livestream show 8:30 PM PST / 11:30 PM EST on the Zennie62 YouTube channel.
Stay tuned.