Even before TNT NBA analyst Stan Van Gundy made the reference early in Game 2 of the Golden State-Houston series, I had the same thought after watching the Rockets’ Amen Thompson get clobbered by a screen and watching the Warriors’ Draymond Green and the Rockets’ Dillon Brooks grab and clutch and crash to the court.
It’s 1980s and 1990s NBA – reminiscent of the Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat and New York Knicks teams that punished with their physicality and sometimes crossed the line to do so.
And I wondered, with all the supposed complaints about the style of today’s NBA and the idea that players shoot too many 3-pointers: is that the kind of NBA we want to watch? A football game on the basketball court?
The physical series also had its contrast – the back-and-forth shotmaking between the teams near the end of the first half when Golden State’s Steph Curry and Houston’s Fred VanVleet, Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green traded 3-pointers.
What would you rather watch? The game was certainly more entertaining when it wasn’t a wrestling match.
After dropping Game 1 to the Warriors at home, the Rockets responded with a 109-94 victory in Game 2 Wednesday, tying the best-of-seven first-round Western Conference series at 1-1.
It was a great sign for the Rockets who have solid veterans but also have important players under 23 (Sengun, Green, Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason) getting their first playoff experience.
It’s not easy winning a playoff game, and it’s definitely not easy beating the Warriors in the playoffs. Now, Golden State’s Jimmy Butler left the game late in the first quarter after he fell hard to the ground when he was inadvertently undercut by Thompson on a rebound attempt. He didn’t return with what the team called a bruised pelvis. He will underdo an MRI. Starting guard Brandin Podziemski played just 14 minutes because of an illness.
The Warriors had just one player in double figures through three quarters, and that was All-Star Steph Curry who finished with 20 points.
Still, the Rockets needed to make shots, and they did. Jalen Green scored a team-high 38 points and contributed six assists, four rebounds and three steals, joining Rockets greats Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon, Moses Malone and James Harden as the only players 23 or younger in franchise history to score at least 30 in a playoff game.
Sengun, a first-time All-Star this season, had 17 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and two steals, and Eason scored 14 points. Veterans VanVleet, Brooks and Steven Adams are perfect matches for the young players. It’s a fun Rockets team that should only get better over the next few seasons.
All the players and the plays: Sign up for USA TODAY’s Sports newsletter.
Even though the Rockets earned the No. 2 seed with a 52-30 record, the seventh-seeded Warriors were a reasonable pick to win the series, especially with their late-season success following the trade for Butler.
The series is far from over though Butler’s health will play a big part in the outcome.
The Rockets showed they can win with force and finesse. They clobbered Golden State with a 47-33 edge in rebounds and also made 15 3-pointers.
The Rockets need to stick to that without letting Draymond Green and the Warriors rattle them with experience, trash talk and instigating tactics.
Follow NBA columnist Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt