The Golden State Warriors fell down by as much as 16 points against the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday night. They struggled defending the interior, couldn’t find a right mix on offense and turned the ball over at an alarming rate early on.
At one point in the first half, the crowd at Oakland’s Oracle Arena was the quietest it has been during the team’s amazing run to the conference finals.
With Rockets big man Dwight Howard sidelined and hobbled by a knee injury, Golden State made its run. A run that has been all too familiar for its opponents this season. After falling down 49-33 with just over seven minutes remaining in the second quarter, Golden State outscored Houston 25-6 to head into the half with a three-point lead.
It’s the patented “small lineup” that aided the Warriors in their comeback attempt.
“It really stretches people out,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game, via ESPN. “Houston does the same thing. It was an interesting chess match, because they like to go small and we like to go small.”
Ultimately, Houston had no other choice than to go small with Howard out of the lineup. And that had a major impact on the outcome of the game. Golden State stretched the lead out to five entering the fourth quarter before opening up an 11-point lead with under three minutes remaining. However, a resilient Rockets squad pulled it to within two due to an amazing three-pointer by Trevor Ariza with just 16 seconds remaining. It wasn’t enough, as Stephen Curry nailed two free throws to wrap the game up and give Golden State a series opening 110-106 Game 1 victory.
Hear from @StephenCurry30 & @ShaunLivingston following tonight's 110-106 victory over Houston.https://t.co/UQzBnV0Tqe
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 20, 2015
Stephen Curry led all scorers with 34 points on 13-of-22 shooting, including 6-of-11 from three-point range. Draymond Green added a near triple-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. Meanwhile, reserve guard Shaun Livingston made all the difference in the world for Golden State. He finished second to Curry with 18 points, shot 6-of-8 from the field, brought down seven rebounds and dished out three assists.
MVP runner-up, James Harden, did all he could do to keep Houston in the game. He made difficult shot after difficult shot in the fourth quarter, tallying 28 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Harden also had a near triple-double with nine assists.
For Houston, the knee injury to Howard has to be the biggest worry here. Losing one game on the road isn’t a big deal. Losing its big man for extended time could doom the team.
Courtesy of USA Today Sports: The Rockets can’t afford to be without Howard for an extended period.
Howard didn’t sound committal when it came to playing in Game 2 on Thursday night:
“It’s very painful,” Howard said, via ESPN. “I tried to play it off as much as possible, but I couldn’t give my teammates what I needed to give them.”
With Howard hobbled, backup center Clint Capela played well. He scored nine points on 4-of-4 shooting and brought down four rebounds. It was, however, Howard’s absence that opened up lanes for the Warriors as the game moved forward.
News & Notes
Golden State shot just 7-of-24 on open three-point attempts. If the Rockets continue to give Steve Kerr’s squad those open looks, this series won’t last too long.
The two teams combined to shoot 32-of-50 (64 percent) from the free-throw line. When you take Livingston and Harden out of the equation, that number went down to 56 percent.
Including Game 1, the Rockets are now yielding an average of 113.8 points to the Warriors in five games this season (all losses).
Warriors center Andrew Bogut failed to score and pulled down just four rebounds in 16 minutes of action.
Seven of the last eight teams to win Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals have gone on to win the series.
Dwight Howard had five turnovers in 26 minutes of action. Those five turnovers resulted in seven points for the Warriors.
Rockets centers combined for 16 points and 17 rebounds. In comparison, Warriors centers went for just six points and seven rebounds.
Stephen Curry’s little girl stole the show during the MVP’s post-game press conference. It was pretty awesome:
Game 2 is at 9:00 p.m. ET on Thursday at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California (ESPN)
Photo: USA Today Sports