Brandon Jennings says Rockets are ‘cooked’ vs. Warriors: ‘They not ready yet’

Jesse Cinquini
3 Min Read
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The Houston Rockets are in the playoffs for the first time in years, but they didn’t exactly start their stint in the 2025 NBA Playoffs on a high note. The team lost Game 1 of its first-round series against the Golden State Warriors at home on Sunday by 10 points and had a particularly woeful performance offensively.

Houston mustered just 85 points in the contest, and the Rockets shot only 39.1 percent from the field and 20.7 percent from 3-point range. Big man Alperen Sengun had it going from a scoring standpoint, as he totaled 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the floor, but no other player on the Rockets scored more than 11.

Former NBA point guard Brandon Jennings seemingly isn’t bullish on Houston’s chances against the Warriors, as he wrote in an X post on Sunday night that the Rockets are “cooked.”

The contrast in playoff experience between Houston’s and Golden State’s cores was apparent in Game 1.

Rockets youngsters like Jalen Green and Amen Thompson played their first playoff games at the NBA level and looked out of sorts.

Green averaged 20-plus points per game for Houston in the 2024-25 regular season, yet he mustered just seven points on 3-of-15 shooting in Game 1 against the Warriors. Thompson wasn’t that much better from a scoring standpoint, as he dropped eight points in what was his lowest scoring output in some time.

While some of Houston’s key players struggled, Golden State’s veteran stars — like Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler — balled out.

Butler lived up to his reputation as an impressive playoff performer in his playoff debut as a Warrior, as he accumulated 25 points along with seven rebounds, six assists and five steals. Curry and Butler accounted for a whopping 56 points scored between the two of them.

Whether or not Jennings’ assertion that the Rockets are “cooked” versus Golden State is accurate could depend on how the next game in the best-of-seven series pans out.

Houston will have a shot to even up the series with a win in Game 2 on Wednesday night, but if the Rockets want to win their first playoff game in a long time, the likes of Green and Thompson will probably need to play better.

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Jesse is an aspiring sports journalist that has previously worked as a staff writer at SB Nation’s CelticsBlog and The Knicks Wall.