If you want to understand why the James Harden era in Houston feels like a beautiful, unfinished symphony, you have to look at May 10, 2019. It was a Friday. Toyota Center was loud. The vibe was electric because, for the first time in years, the invincible Golden State Warriors looked mortal. Kevin Durant was out. He’d strained his calf in Game 5, leaving the door wide open for the Rockets to finally, mercifully, slay their dragon.
But they didn't.
Instead, we got a game that defies logic. Rockets vs Warriors Game 6 in the 2019 Western Conference Semifinals remains one of the most polarizing nights in modern basketball history. It wasn't just a loss for Houston; it was the definitive proof that the "system" Daryl Morey built might have had a fatal flaw.
The Zero-Point Half That Changed Everything
Let’s talk about Steph Curry. Honestly, for the first 24 minutes of this game, he was a ghost. Zero points. Not a layup. Not a free throw. He went 0-of-5 from the floor and looked completely lost without the gravity of Durant to bail him out.
Most teams would be down by 20 if their superstar put up a doughnut in a closeout game on the road. But the Warriors aren't most teams. Klay Thompson—in classic "Game 6 Klay" fashion—kept the ship afloat with 21 points in the first half. The score was tied at 57-57 at the break.
Think about that. Houston had their best chance in franchise history to bury a KD-less Warriors team, and they went into the locker room tied. You could feel the air leave the building.
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Then the second half happened.
Curry exploded for 33 points in the final two quarters. It was a masterclass in resilience. He scored 23 in the fourth quarter alone. He was hitting daggers over P.J. Tucker, dancing around Clint Capela, and basically reminding everyone that the dynasty started with him, not Durant.
Rockets vs Warriors Game 6: The Ghost of 2018
It’s impossible to discuss 2019 without the context of the previous year. In 2018, the Rockets and Warriors met in a Game 6 with even higher stakes—the Western Conference Finals.
That night, Houston was playing without Chris Paul, who had suffered a devastating hamstring injury in the closing moments of Game 5. Despite that, they led by 10 at halftime. They were 24 minutes away from the NBA Finals. Then, the wheels came off. They lost by 29 points as Golden State went on a 31-9 run in the fourth quarter.
The 2019 rematch was supposed to be the correction.
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Houston had "The Point God" back on the floor. James Harden was coming off an MVP-caliber season. Yet, the same patterns emerged. When the pressure ramped up in the fourth quarter of the 2019 clash, the Rockets' offense became stagnant. They became obsessed with hunting mismatches that weren't there, while the Warriors moved the ball like it was a hot potato.
- James Harden: 35 points, 8 rebounds, but 6 costly turnovers.
- Chris Paul: 27 points and 11 rebounds (his best game of the series).
- Stephen Curry: 33 points (all in the second half).
- Klay Thompson: 27 points, including the 3-pointer that iced it with 36 seconds left.
Why the Rockets Couldn't Close the Door
People blame the officiating or "bad luck," but the truth is more nuanced. The Rockets were built to beat the Warriors in a specific way: isolation, switching everything on defense, and high-volume threes.
It worked—until it didn't.
Steve Kerr made a brilliant adjustment in the second half of that 2019 Game 6. He went back to the old-school Warriors "Beautiful Game" offense. They spammed the Curry-Draymond Green pick-and-roll, and Houston had no answer. Kevon Looney, who played the game of his life with 14 points and 5 offensive boards, kept keeping possessions alive.
It was "heart of a champion" stuff. Corny? Maybe. But watching Curry hit two free throws with 12 seconds left to put the game out of reach, you realized that Golden State simply had a higher gear that Houston couldn't reach.
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The Aftermath and the "What Ifs"
The fallout of this specific Rockets vs Warriors Game 6 was immediate and messy. Within months, the Rockets traded Chris Paul for Russell Westbrook in a desperate attempt to find a new spark. That trade effectively ended the most competitive version of the Harden-era Rockets.
If Houston wins that game, they go to Game 7 at Oracle Arena. If they win the series, they face a Portland team they matched up well against, and then a Raptors team in the Finals. It is very likely that a Game 6 win would have given James Harden his first championship ring.
Instead, it’s a footnote.
Lessons for the Modern NBA
What can we actually take away from this rivalry? It’s not just about the stats.
- Stars win games, but systems survive injuries. The Warriors lost the best player in the world (Durant) and still won because their "motion" offense didn't rely on one person.
- Psychology matters. PJ Tucker recently admitted on a podcast that he still can't watch the highlights of these games. The mental toll of "almost" beating a dynasty is heavier than a blowout loss.
- The "Math" isn't everything. Houston played the analytics game perfectly, but the Warriors' ability to create "randomness" through movement trumped the Rockets' calculated isolations.
If you’re a basketball junkie looking to study late-game execution, go back and watch the last five minutes of this game. Watch how Draymond Green directs traffic. Watch how Curry moves without the ball. It’s a textbook on how to close a series on the road.
To truly understand the current state of the NBA, you have to appreciate how this one rivalry forced every other team to change how they build rosters. We are in the "positionless" era because the Rockets tried to out-small-ball the Warriors, and for a few glorious, heart-wrenching nights, it almost worked.
Your Next Steps:
- Watch the tape: Specifically, look at the fourth-quarter defensive rotations of the Warriors. It's a clinic.
- Compare the rosters: Look at the 2018 vs 2019 Rockets box scores to see how the depth changed after losing guys like Trevor Ariza.
- Analyze the "Game 6 Klay" mythos: Study Klay Thompson’s shooting splits in elimination games to see if the legend matches the reality (Spoiler: It mostly does).