Heading into the fourth quarter of a must-win first round Game 6 road encounter with the Golden State Warriors on Friday, the Houston Rockets led the smaller, more experienced Warriors by just two points, 86-84.
Against a hostile Chase Center crowd, the younger, longer, more athletic Rockets showed little fear. Ultimately, Houston outscored the Warriors 29-23 in the final period. Golden State, emphasizing a small-ball lineup, frequently settled for triple tries and struggled to create much inside the restricted area.
The Rockets won the bout, 115-107.
After trailing Golden State in the series 3-1, the Rockets have now tied things up, 3-3, and will head back home for a deciding Game 7 on Sunday night.
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Rockets head coach Ime Udoka employed a two-big lineup for most of the frame, pairing 6-foot-11 All-Star center/power forward Alperen Sengun with 6-foot-11, 265-pound veteran center Steven Adams. The formidable duo helped the Rockets gobble up rebounds and box out the opposition.
Second-year Rockets wing Amen Thompson, already a rising two-way star, gently needled Golden State fans after Houston had secured a second straight victory to stave off elimination.
“This crowd be annoying me so just [to] silence them obviously [in my] hometown, it feels good. I’ve got my family here,” Thompson noted.
The fact that Thompson said this of his hometown crowd is somewhat surprising.
As Richardson noted, Thompson grew up watching Stephen Curry and Draymond Green win championships, and even attended Curry’s basketball camp.
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Thompson, along with his identical twin brother Ausar, was born in Oakland and raised in the East Bay city of San Leandro. The Thompson family moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida so that the twins could kick off their high school basketball careers a year early at Pine Crest School.
Rather than explore collegiate careers, both brothers played for an Atlanta-based pro league for players between 16-20, Overtime Elite. They first suited up for Team OTE in 2021-22, before shifting to the City Reapers. Amen was selected with the No. 4 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, while Ausar went No. 5 to the Detroit Pistons. Both have already served in major roles on playoff squads during their second seasons this year.
For the Warriors-Rockets series, the 6-foot-7 Amen Thompson is averaging 14.3 points on .478/.333/.633 shooting splits, 6.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks a night.
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