Leaned against the wall, staring out into the gym at Houston’s Memorial Hermann training facility, Amen Thompson smiled while listening to smooth R&B music. The second-year player was convinced that his team could still win this first-round series against the Warriors, despite being down 3-1.
“[I feel] amazing,” the young star as he was finishing Rockets‘ morning shootaround on Wednesday. “I feel great.” So might think Amen was inspired by his brother Ausar, who had just scored 22 points for Detroit to stave off elimination against the New York the night before.
Thompson proceded to notched five steals in the first half to set the defensive tone in Houston’s 131-116 win that forced Game 6 in Golden State. “Every game they’ve won, we won after,” the 22-year-old had said before the contest. “So that’s what I take from it.”
The NBA sophomore ended the night with 25 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 blocks and 3 assists, becoming the first Rockets player to score 10 points with steals in a single half during the past 25 playoff runs. “He took it personal, and that’s what we need from him every single night,” Dillon Brooks said. “As a defender, you have to take the matchup personal.”
Thompson, show led a defensive clinic in how to guard rival Stephen Curry, also became the first player since Charles Barkley in 1993 to accumulate 25 points, 5 steals and 3 blocks in a postseason match. “He was reading Steph, reading a lot of the guys, staying in front, being disciplined on the defensive end without reaching.”
“That same mentality, that tenacity that he was playing with gives us a lot of energy, gives us a lot of extra possessions, and it makes their best player timid and think. That’s what we need: they’re best players to think, think, think the game instead of playing in the flow,” Brooks insisted in giving praise to his teammate.
