Golden State Warriors vs Houston Rockets
Houston, TX bore witness to one of the most entertaining playoff games so far in the tournament when their hometown Rockets fell short to the Golden State Warriors.
Kevin Durant proved too much for Houston as his presence on the court allowed the rest of the already-fantastic Dubs to get more shots on the floor. Stephen Curry also stepped up, allowing the Warriors to run away with the game by the third quarter’s end.
Basketball betting circles will definitely look at the Dubs for another win here, but James Harden and company will not make things easy for their visitors. What the Rockets need right now is defensive adjustments. The thing now is this: I’m not sure if Mike D’Antoni is the perfect man for the job.
Talking Points
The biggest point of conversation here is the Warriors’ sheer dominance on the basketball floor. While the Rockets played fantastic basketball in the first half, things took a turn in the second. Like clockwork, the Warriors exploded in the third frame, outscoring Houston 31-24 in the quarter.
Kevin Durant did a lot of the power-hitting for the Warriors after ending the night with a masterful 37-point outing. He was also unstoppable from all over the floor, shooting 51.9% for the night. He used the entire floor to score: the Rockets weren’t able to stop him on the three-point line, the paint and the midrange.
D’Antoni is more than aware of the danger Durant poses when he gets free rein on the court, but he is confident that they can handle Durant’s damage and focus on what they do best.
“He is 7 feet and falling away. He’s one of the best scorers ever, right? So I thought he was extremely good. But we can withstand that,” D’Antoni said. “We can’t withstand turning the ball over, missing layups, them getting out. Klay Thompson got up 15 [3-pointers]. We can’t give him 15 3s. We’re switching everything and staying off for that reason, so we have to clean up some stuff and see if we can do it on Wednesday.”
What the Rockets need to do is improve their defence and shot selection. They shot 45.9% compared to Golden State’s 52.5%. While Harden was red-hot the entire night, it’s a must for him to include the other Rockets in the offence. The drop in defensive effort was also noticeable when the Dubs started to pull away in the third.
History
These two clubs are the best in the West, and their clashes in the regular season gave fans and many a betsite reasons to be excited about this series. While the Dubs did take first blood, Houston fans should be more than aware that their team won the season series against the Dubs.
While the first one was a rather tight contest that saw the game go to the wire, their last one was a considerably comfortable win for the Rockets. Chris Paul took charge during their January 20 meeting and laid down the law against a Golden State team that didn’t see any action production outside Durant, Curry, and Draymond Green.
The Rockets had also played historically well against Golden State. Harden, Paul, and Eric Gordon scored well against the Dubs, and they showed their masterful scoring in Game 1 as well. Should PJ Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute finally find their scoring groove, the Warriors will have a difficult task in their hands.
However, the Warriors front office is far from worried when it comes to the team responding to challenges.
Warriors GM Bob Myers admitted that he initially got worried about the Warriors’ run of form during the tail-end of the season. “Was I worried? My first thought was, ‘Yes.’ But my second thought was, ‘Have they let us down yet?'”
What are the odds?
The Warriors are huge threats to upset Houston’s home-court advantage, but betting sites are giving out interesting odds. The Rockets are still looked upon to win Game 2 with -2.00 @ 2.04. Meanwhile, the Warriors have 2.02 odds for a +1.00 Asian Handicap.
The Beard needs to show why he is the favourite to win the MVP with his play. However, he also needs to involve his team-mates in the scoring and not just throw easy lobs to Capela. He needs to help Trevor Ariza get hot from the corners and involve PJ Tucker in the offence as well.
A big priority for the Rockets is to get the opposing stars out of their game. They have to push Curry to do defence a lot more. While Curry is more than ready to meet Houston’s defensive demands, pushing him to the limit is something they must do. They should also get Draymond Green in trouble with the refs with another technical. They should also keep a close guard on Klay Thompson.
It does seem like Houston have a huge list of things to do by the time Game 2 comes rolling around, but I’m sure Harden and Paul would have figured something out. We have a series in our hands if they know how to prevent another third-quarter meltdown.
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
