The Golden State Warriors snatched home-court advantage in their first-round series against the Houston Rockets with a 95-85 win in Game 1 at Toyota Center on Sunday. It wasn’t the prettiest of games, and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr stated postgame that it felt like he went back in time to his playing days.
“They’re not a typical modern NBA team, in terms of spreading you out, playing fast, shooting a million threes, they’re kind of old school,” Kerr said. “In many ways, they’re in the image of their coach. Ime [Udoka] was a grinder as a player. He was tough and physical, and that’s what Houston is.
“In this series, you can see they know where their advantage lies, and it’s playing [Steven] Adams a lot,” Kerr continued. “Sometimes playing him with [Alperen] Sengun. Having everybody crash. So, it felt like 1997 out there to me. Completely different NBA game than we’re used to. We’ve got to be ready for that. This is what this series is going to be.”
The Rockets do present a different kind of challenge than your average NBA team today. They don’t mind going big and will try to beat you with force instead of finesse.
The Rockets averaged 48.5 rebounds per game in the regular season, which ranked first in the NBA, and they dominated on the glass against the Warriors. The hosts hauled in 22 offensive rebounds, which led to 22 second-chance points.
The fact that the Rockets still only managed to get to 85 points lets you know just what kind of a slugfest this was. This was reminiscent of some of the playoff games from the 1990s, with the only difference from back then being some magical moments from Stephen Curry.
The Rockets played very physical defense against Curry, as they did when the teams last met in the regular season. The two-time MVP only managed to score three points in a 106-96 loss on April 6, but he was on fire in Game 1.
Curry had 31 points (12-19 FG), six rebounds, three assists, and one steal against the Rockets. The 11-time All-Star missed his first three shots but then proceeded to make light work of that vaunted Rockets defense. Kerr sang Curry’s praises after the game for leading the Warriors to victory.
“He was incredible,” Kerr said. “With that type of pressure on him from [Amen] Thompson and others, he just made some amazing plays and obviously carried us offensively along with Jimmy [Butler].”
Jimmy Butler indeed had a terrific playoff debut for the Warriors. Butler put up 25 points (10-19 FG), seven rebounds, six assists, and five steals in Game 1. He scored six points in the final two minutes to ensure the Rockets’ attempt at pulling off a 23-point comeback win ended in failure.
This was a massive win for the Warriors, and they’re now the firm favorites in this series against the second-seeded Rockets. Game 2 is now suddenly a must-win for the hosts, and all the pressure will be on them when the sides face off at Toyota Center on Wednesday at 9:30 PM ET. A season that promised much for the Rockets is already in danger of ending a lot sooner than they’d have expected.
