The Golden State Warriors let their guard down inside the Toyota Center and the Houston Rockets capitalized, tying up the series as it shifts back to Oracle Arena for a pivotal Game 5.

Following their narrow Game 4 loss, Draymond Green spoke candidly to the media about his assessment of the team’s two losing efforts.

Green said “[The Rocktets are] doing whatever it takes to win and we’re just kind of rolling in there like, ‘oh yeah, we’ll box.’ And they’re slamming us.”

He added “So we gotta just change our mindset. And I think if we change our mindset then we’ll be just fine, but we haven’t these last two games. And the first two games, I think it was the complete opposite. I think we were taking it to them, and they weren’t really responding as far as the physicality went. And so that’s the difference in this series. That’s why it’s 2-2.”

A lot went wrong for the Warriors in Games 3 and 4, but nothing was more glaring than their inability to finish off possessions with a rebound.

Over the last two games, the Rockets outrebounded the defending champs 105-78, hauling in 30 offensive rebounds during that stretch.

Without DeMarcus Cousins, the Warriors are getting bullied down low on the glass with guys like PJ Tucker—who has 10 offensive rebounds in just the last two games—getting into good position and hauling in rebounds with little resistance.

Additionally, all of the long rebounds off of the Rockets’ three-point misses have seemingly found their way into Houston hands because they’re scrambling and, as Green said, doing whatever it takes to get extra possessions.

At the risk of sounding cliché, the Warriors just didn’t play with championship-level effort and it cost them.

After four straight trips to the NBA Finals, the 2018-19 Warriors have been plagued by unfocused defensive efforts and general apathy—something many hoped would change once the playoffs started, but, as of yet, has not.

The Warriors won’t be able to just flip the switch and allow their talent to carry them into the next round. They have to go out and work for it.

Even if Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson find their three-point shot—which would be huge and timely for them—the Warriors need to match the Rockets’ physicality and energy.

Winning the rebound battle moving forward is going to require a team effort. It means that someone needs to put a body on Tucker as he crashes the glass. It means that Kevin Durant—who has been absolutely masterful on the offensive end throughout the entire postseason—needs to grab more than five rebounds per game as the team’s seven-foot tall starting power forward.

Despite the Splash Brothers’ poor long range shooting and the bench’s struggles, Games 3 and 4 were both within reach, but Houston’s second chance points and hustles plays built momentum and, eventually, separation.

The Warriors have a chance to do something special this season despite all of the distractions and noise surrounding them, but they need complete efforts to do it. They need to play 48 minutes of engaged and tough basketball, not just three minutes at the end of each half.

The Rockets aren’t scared of them. They will not back down because they understand that this series will be won in the trenches.

Golden State has to dig deep, starting in Game 5. They need to play like the underdog and scrap, claw, and fight for every rebound and every loose ball. They need to scramble and close out on Eric Gordon and rotate over to a driving James Harden.

Durant reminded everyone who he was during the first round and then jumpstarted a historic stretch.

The Warriors must do the same and remind everyone—including themselves—that they are a gritty defensive-minded team and then everything else will fall into place.