ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The Houston Rockets were at Oracle Arena to face the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.
The Rockets were without Patrick Beverley (left wrist surgery) and Donatas Motiejunas (low back surgery), while the Warriors were without Marreese Speights (moderate right calf strain).
1ST QUARTER: Getting Crushed Inside
The Rockets came out focused, as Josh Smith missed an inside shot but got his own putback, then Dwight Howard drew a foul on Andrew Bogut, then dunked the ball on a post up with two hands over Bogut, who was trying to avoid his second personal on consecutive possessions.
Then Harrison Barnes tried to take James Harden on the left side, but lost the ball, and Houston converted a layup on the other end as Smith found Trevor Ariza on the fastbreak.
The Rockets had the early lead at 9-2. Harden drew a blocking foul on Klay Thompson and #Roaracle chanted, “Over-rated!”
The Warriors finally found their stride after Draymond Green attacked on a dribble drive on the left side, threw the ball out to a wide-open Bogut, who actually had the ball go through his hands. But Barnes was there to retrieve and sling the ball over to Klay in the corner for a three-ball.
That kind of “tic-tac-toe” play happened again on the next possession, as this time Thompson drove, found Green, who found Barnes back up top, who found Klay again in the right corner as Thompson snuck free. However, Klay’s foot was on the line, so it was a long two.
Stephen Curry then got on the board with an early-offense swish from the left short elbow, Smith missed from the elbow, but Howard dunked the putback with one hand.
Curry answered back with a trey.
Smith later went too hard over an outsized Thompson, who did well with his footwork and arms on defense, and Klay brought the ball up, found Curry on the left wide open, and Steph rattled in the triple to help give Golden State a 14-12 lead with 5:50 remaining, and Rockets head coach Kevin McHale took the first timeout of the game.
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During that play, it appeared Howard injured his left knee with a slight buckle. He would, however, return the game a few minutes later.
So Rockets reserve center Clint Capela came in for Howard and gave a yeoman’s effort, getting a trailing layup to go thanks to an attack by Harden, then an alley oop from Harden as the Warriors defense converged on Harden’s move from left to right at the free throw line, Harden swooping his arms as if to draw a foul, but instead cleverly lobbing the assist to Capela.
Terrence Jones also came off the bench and sparked Houston, getting a layup on a cut, assisted by Harden, then a runner over Green.
The alley oop by Capela drew a timeout from Golden State head coach Steve Kerr and Houston regained the lead, 23-16, with 2:48 to go.
Out of the timeout, Curry drilled a three from the left side via Shaun Livingston and Curry got another trey by sidestepping Rockets backup point guard Pablo Prigioni on the right wing, but Prigioni converted a reverse layup as Steph was lazy on defense on a give-and-go Prigioni had with Capela, and Ariza buried a three on an baseline inbound.
Steph also got blocked at the rim by Smith with Howard converging and, although Green got the offensive board, Draymond was forced to hurry a put-shot from the free throw line that went way short as the shotclock buzzer sounded.
The Rockets took a 31-27 lead into the second quarter, as Harden tallied 4 assists and Ariza 7 points. Curry led all scorers with 11 points on 3-for-4 downtown, but Houston was crushing Golden State, 20-6, on points in the paint, going 10-for-14 inside while the Warriors went just 3-for-11 inside the paint.
2ND QUARTER: Steph Ends What Klay Started
Livingston got two early buckets to start the second quarter with the bench unit, but the Warriors couldn’t get any stops, trading baskets with the Rockets in the early-going as Ariza drained another triple from the left side, as well as a hanging layup protecting the ball behind his head as he jumped into Festus Ezeli, and Prigioni dissected the Golden State defense for a righty reverse layup.
Things finally got better when a Howard spin over Ezeli went too hard and Leandro Barbosa tracked the long rebound and found Andre Iguodala on a beautiful chest pass with a tough low angle on the bounce. Iguodala got bumped by Ariza on the and-one whistle, but missed the free throw.
That cut the lead to 40-33, but after Ariza missed a layup, Livingston’s pass to Barbosa open in the left corner sailed into the seats for a turnover.
After a TV timeout, the Rockets went on a 9-0 run. Howard got a lefty hook, Barbosa missed a three, Smith made a layup, and Ezeli got a dribble versus Howard tapped out by Harden, leading to a fastbreak dunk by Smith.
Kerr called timeout, brought Green, Curry, and Thompson back in, but Ezeli got a feed from Steph and exposed the ball on his shot, getting it blocked. The Rockets were off to the races again, and Harden got his sixth assist as Corey Brewer got the layup.
Ezeli, of all people, stopped the bleeding with a nice drop step, pause, and spin jump hook. The Rockets held a 49-35 lead approaching six minutes before halftime.
But the Rockets were in the penalty and Livingston took advantage, drawing two fouls and four trips to the charity stripe.
Klay also got in a beautiful block on Harden.
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Kerr also went small-ball, inserting Barnes for Ezeli, and Howard started losing the ball in the post to the swarming Warriors help defense. Klay stole the ball from Howard and led a break that ended with a Livingston two-handed slam.
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Thompson then showed off his ball handling abilities, taking Brewer from the right wing to the hoop, rising Oracle to its feet as the Warriors had the deficit down to 51-43, then after Howard lost the ball after a Brewer entry pass, Livingston went coast-to-coast for a layup.
Thompson’s defense on Harden was also tremendous, as Harden exaggerated the contact, but got no whistle, although no one would have heard it in the deafening Oracle.
Then Klay showed poise as he passed up an open three on a catch up top, as no Warrior was near the hoop. So he then scissored through the Rocket defense and dished at the last moment to an awaiting Livingston under the bucket for a two-hand jam.
Houston decided to settle things down slowly and post up Howard against Green, but Dwight was called for warding off Draymond with the off arm while isolated and trying to get position on the left block. Howard exited with his third personal and chants of “Warriors!” started echoing throughout the arena.
Steph pulled a trey over Capela from the left side, trying to blow the roof off of Oracle, but he missed it. Livingston got the o-reb, got it to Klay, who drove in, missed, but Draymond got the tip-in.
All of a sudden, the Warriors were back in the game, down just 51-49 with under two minutes to play.
Perhaps due to the decibel level, Thompson fell asleep on the next possession to Harden, who went right by him while Klay was looking away, and got an alley oop to Capela again.
Klay came back with another drive in traffic with a lefty scoop to tie the game at 53-53 with 1:27 left, then Barnes got a steal on Harden, but Curry missed a dagger attempt from the right side, with 20,000 sighing as the shot went off.
After Harden drew two free throws to put the Rockets back up two, Barnes got a three from the right corner, delivered by Green as Houston bit on the high pick and sagged elsewhere.
With the shotclock ticking away for the Rockets, Jones missed a three over a swarming Curry at the top and the Warriors got the last possession.
Capela with his mobility and long arms stayed on Curry, but Steph utilized two crossovers and a stepback to swish the jumper from the left side and, to Capela’s visibly apparent dismay, the Warriors took a 58-55 lead into halftime.
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Livingston was huge off the bench, tallying 16 points on 5-for-6 field and 6-for-6 from the charity stripe, while Curry added 13 points on 5-for-9 field, 3-for-5 downtown. Thompson had 11 points on 5-for-11 shooting, and Draymond collected 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
Ariza led the Rockets with 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting, 2-for-3 beyond the arc, while Howard added 7 points, 10 rebounds, but also 5 turnovers. Harden was just 2-for-7 for 7 points, but dished out 7 first-half assists.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @leoniemendoza)
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