The Golden State Warriors were not themselves in a 22-point loss to the Houston Rockets in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals Wednesday evening. The team put up just 21 assists and relied heavily on Kevin Durant’s isolation game.
Meanwhile, Houston played more like the Warriors by passing the ball all around the arena. It was a stunning turn of events after Golden State blew the Rockets out on the road in Game 1.
During the game, Draymond Green’s mother, Mary Babers, tweeted out a ton of shade. It was primarily thrown in the direction of Durant himself.
“What you talking about?” Babers tweeted. “It’s more to a game than shots! It left everyone else standing around never to get into position. SWING THE BALL. Pass the ball & around the 7 second mark take the shot(not at the 21 second mark). ISO ISO ISO! They beat us at our own game!”
That’s obviously a knock on Durant, who scored 38 points on 13-of-22 shooting. But Babers doesn’t focus on the fact that other star Warriors players weren’t shooting well. Durant was forced to go iso pirimrilary because Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson shot a combined 9-of-23 from the field.
For his part, Green only attempted five shots.
It’s fair to blame some of this on Durant. Iso ball isn’t the Warriors’ strength. But to lay most of the blame on him is ridiculous.