Zebra Sports NBA Nightly Pulse: NBA News & Highlights from May 2

Nightly Pulse: NBA News & Highlights from May 2

May 2, 2025May 2, 2025 nba.comnba.com 0 Comment 9:00 pm
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🏀 NBA scores tonight

Houston Rockets 115, Golden State Warriors 107 (Final)

⭐ Top NBA takeaways tonight

  • Rockets win, force Game 7: The Rockets came into tonight facing elimination on the road against an experienced Warriors team with championship pedigree. Houston didn’t flinch. The two teams battled throughout and this time, it was the Rockets who rose to the occasion in the fourth quarter to seal the win and extend the series. 
  • Game 7 Sunday in Houston: It all comes down to a winner-take-all showdown in H-Town on Sunday. The Rockets have battled back from a 3-1 deficit in the series and now get home-court advantage in the finale. The Warriors have a road win from earlier in the series, but winning on the road in Game 7 is a different beast. Game 7 will tip off at 8:30 ET on Sunday. Catch the action on TNT.
  • Around the league: This weekend will feature two Game 7s, starting with Saturday’s showdown in Denver between the Nuggets and Clippers. Sunday will have the series finale for Rockets vs Warriors, along with Game 1 of the Cavaliers vs Pacers series.

🏅 Top NBA performers tonight

  • Fred VanVleet, Houston Rockets: 29 points (7-13 FG, 6-9 3Pt, 9-9 FT), eight rebounds, eight assists in win over Warriors.
  • Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors: 29 points, seven rebounds and two steals vs Rockets.
  • Steven Adams, Houston Rockets: Series-best 17 points to go with five rebounds and three blocks in win over Warriors.

🚀 Rockets prevail, force Game 7

Rockets 115, Warriors 107

We had a two-point game going into the fourth quarter tonight. Other times in this series, the Warriors came alive in the final period to secure the victory. The shoe was on the other foot tonight as Houston dominated the fourth.

Houston outscored the Warriors 29-23 and held Golden State to just 33% from the field in the fourth quarter. That doesn’t paint the full picture, though, as Houston took its lead from two points to 17 points before emptying the bench late.

Fred VanVleet continued his terrific series with 29 points while Alperen Şengün turned in a double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Steven Adams finished with 17 points and three blocks while also making countless hustle plays to impact the game.

Now it all comes down to Sunday’s Game 7 in Houston.

3️⃣ FVV for three

Fred VanVleet clearly loves the hoops at Chase Center. After hitting eight triples in this building in Game 5, VanVleet is at it again tonight. He’s 6-for-9 from beyond the arc to give him a game-high 27 points with six minutes to go.

The Rockets have their largest lead of the game (12) as we approach crunch time in the Bay Area.

👀 4th quarter time

Rockets 86, Warriors 84

Defense reigned supreme in the first half, but the scoring really opened up coming out of halftime. The Warriors won the quarter 36-33 and both teams shot 50 percent or better. Golden State had the three-ball cooking in the third with seven made triples in the quarter.

It’s a two-point game going into the fourth with the season on the line for Houston or a road game seven on the line for Golden State. This is gonna be good.

🎥 Third quarter highlights

The third quarter in tonight’s Warriors-Rockets game had it all. Crazy plays. Big shots. Momentum swings. Check out some of the best moments from the third before we get rolling with the fourth quarter.

Playoff Jimmy finds a way

Time was winding down on the shot clock after the Warriors ran into a brick wall for much of the possession. Getting the ball in Butler’s hands can get Golden State out of a jam, though.

Steph Curry doing his thing

Curry added nine points to his tally in the third to give him 25 points through three quarters.

Jabari Smith making some noise

Smith has given Houston a nice boost off the bench with eight points in 13 minutes of work.

😤 Playoff Jimmy is here

Jimmy Butler is hitting big shot after big shot and getting and-1 after and-1 tonight. He’s up to 20 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the floor and 7-for-8 from the stripe. He has added five boards and five assists as well, as the Warriors stay within striking distance of the Rockets here in the third quarter.

🚀 Rockets up five at the half

Rockets 53, Warriors 48

It was a wild first half in the Bay Area with 10 lead changes and three ties in the first 24 minutes. Stephen Curry is on his game with 16 points already while the Rockets are buoyed by Fred VanVleet, Alperen Şengün and Jalen Green’s combined 25 points.

One of the more surprising stats from the first half is fast break points. The Rockets are billed as the younger, faster team, but it’s the Warriors holding the fastbreak points advantage with 19 points compared to Houston’s six.

We’re setting up for a terrific second half. Can the Warriors close it out tonight, or will the Rockets force a Game 7? Catch the second half on ESPN.

🤯 Steph. Bruh.

Steph Curry is helping carry the Warriors offense tonight with 16 first-half points, including this ridiculous finish plus the foul.

Steph is 5-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-6 from deep to lead all scorers.

🧗 Draymond climbing the leaderboards

Draymond Green has moved into 15th all-time on the NBA’s all-time playoff assists leaderboard during tonight’s Game 6 showdown with the Rockets. If the Warriors manage a deep playoff run, Green has the potential to be on the cusp of the top 10 by the end of this postseason.

Green is also getting to the rack.

🚀 Rockets lead Warriors after 1

Rockets 25, Warriors 21

The Rockets take a four-point lead into the second quarter after a hard-fought opening period. The combo of Alperen Şengün and Fred VanVleet have led the scoring for Houston with eight points apiece.

It was an even first quarter by most metrics. Both teams shot between 42 and 45 percent from the floor. Both teams were perfect from the line. Both teams had five turnovers.

We’ve had 10 lead changes already, so this is setting up to be a back-and-forth showdown. Catch it now on ESPN.

💪 Gary Payton II for 2

Gary Payton got the start tonight and is making the most of it early with two boards and the big time finish on the lob from Brandin Podziemski.

The Warriors trailed by as many as six in the early goings but have regained a one-point lead as we get to the final minutes of the first quarter. Catch the action on ESPN.

⏩ NBA Playoff lookahead

  • Clippers-Nuggets, Game 7 set for Saturday: The wild series between the Clippers and Nuggets gets the Game 7 it deserves on Saturday in Denver. So far, we’ve had one overtime game, two other games with final margins of three points or less, and another game that was decided by six points.
  • Sunday’s action: As it stands, the Cavaliers and Pacers will kick off the second round of the NBA Playoffs as the lone game Sunday. However, if the Rockets win tonight, Game 7 of Rockets-Warriors will take place on Sunday as well.
  • Celtics vs Knicks rekindle rivalry: The Celtics (2) will take on the Knicks (3) in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Celtics are coming off of a series win over the Magic in five games while the Knicks had to battle it out with the Pistons over six games to advance. Boston swept the season series between the two, winning all four matchups. Check out our Celtics-Knicks series preview for more insights.

🍿Rockets vs Warriors Game 6 matchup

The Rockets staved off elimination Wednesday with a 131-116 win at home over Houston. The degree of difficulty gets ratcheted up tonight as the young Rockets must go into Golden State and escape with a win if they want to extend their season.

Golden State has won both games at the Chase Center in this series. The Warriors used a huge fourth quarter to win by 11 in Game 3. Game 4 was a battle until the end but the Warriors made the key plays in key moments to get the 109-106 victory.

Warriors lineup tonight

Gary Payton II gets the start in place of Brandin Podziemski, who will come off the bench tonight. It will be Payton’s first start of the series as Golden State coach Steve Kerr goes with a different look to open the game.

Rockets lineup tonight

Houston will go with the same lineup from Game 5.

Did you miss Game 5? Check out our Rockets-Warriors key takeaways from Houston’s season-saving win. For all things Rockets-Warriors, you can see our series hub with key stats, recaps, highlights and more.

NBA storylines tonight

  • Game 6 for Rockets vs Warriors: One of the most exciting first round series of this year’s NBA Playoffs gets another installment tonight with the Warriors looking to close things out on their home floor.
  • Gregg Popovich steps down as Spurs coach: San Antonio’s legendary coach, Gregg Popovich, announced Friday that he is stepping down as head coach after a remarkable 29-year run with five NBA Championships. Mitch Johnson has been tapped as the next head coach in San Antonio.
  • Grizzlies name new head coach: Tuomas Iisalo had his interim coach tab removed and he is now officially the new head coach for the Memphis Grizzlies.

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