A rematch between last year's Western Conference Finals competitors, finished in disappointing fashion on Thursday. The Rockets bagged the win (107-86) at home.
The two teams arrived at the Toyota Center with totally different attitudes. Houston from the beginning was trying to win, by keeping the game at a slow pace, and obstructing Golden State's passing forced them to rely on individual efforts on offense.
James Harden #13 scores the court's highest 27 points to help the Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors 107-86. /VCG Photo
By contrast, the Warriors who played with Stephen Curry on the bench due to injury, didn't seem to care much about the game. Though the team replaced Quinn Cook with Andre Iguodala as a starter over defense concerns, the defending champions didn't bother to change their usual style of give-and-go, even after they committed multiple turnovers under the pressure of the Rocket's aggressive defense. Moreover, head coach Steve Kerr even extended the team's rotation to 12 by giving some time to Jacob Evans, a player at the end of the bench.
Golden State paid the price with their terrible offense. None of their starters made even one three-pointer. Kevin Durant scored the team's highest 20 points, more than the points scored by all the other starters put together. They delivered in total 18 assists, which was way lower than their season average of 29.9 per game but very close to their turnover number (16) of this game.
Kevin Durant #35 puts down 20 points on Thursday. /VCG Photo
The Rockets, by contrast got what they wanted. Besides a 21-point victory, they made 16 three-pointers out of 47 attempts. They dragged the game into the slow pace as planned and defeated their rival with what they did best, solo attack by James Harden. Furthermore, after Thursday's win, Houston finally saw their winning rates reach 50 percent (seven wins and seven losses).
However, it might not be much for the Rockets to get excited about. First, the Warriors they beat were not in best condition because they did not have Stephen Curry, a two-time MVP point guard. Second, Golden State didn't seem motivated; Durant only had 15 attempts, including only two outside the three-point line. Imagine how many shots a four-time NBA scoring leader like Durant can take if he's desperate for a win. Third, Houston's biggest weakness on defense, being unable to resist a big man in the low-block continued to exist while Golden State were waiting for DeMarcus Cousins, a 2.11-meter, 122-kilogram center who scored 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game last season to return from injury.
Since the Warriors do not have DeMarcus Cousins (L) or Stephen Curry (R), it's hard to say how much value this win has for the Rockets. /VCG Photo
Back in the 2017-18 season, the Rockets won two of their three games against the Warriors in the regular season and lost after seven games in the playoffs. They were leading 3-2 before the last two games in the Western Conference. So, how did they end up losing the series? Houston did not have Chris Paul who had to sit on the bench thanks to injury. How did Paul get hurt? Because D'Antoni cut the team's regular rotation to seven to compete with Golden State.
Considering how cruel competition is in today's Western Conference, Houston might still need to rely on no more than eight or even seven players if they wanted to lock a good position in the playoffs. As Paul grew another year old (33), the chances of him (and others) getting hurt again are not small.
Chris Paul's health will remain a potential threat for Houston especially if the team continue their short rotation of eight, or even seven. /VCG Photo
As for the Warriors, the team, as they always were, are fully aware of the importance of health. As a matter of fact, many in the organization are convinced that if they had Andre Iguodala in the Western Conference Finals last season (he missed four games of the series after getting hurt in Game 3), Golden State could have knocked Houston out in five games.
Therefore, the Warriors continued their practice of resting long enough for even small injuries to make sure that nothing goes wrong. Neither will they cut down their rotation to lower than nine unless it's necessary, which can only happen in key games of the playoffs. As the team aims for their third consecutive title, Golden State did not care that much about ranking in the regular season since they won the Final Championship last season even though they ranked No.2 after the Rockets in the regular season last time.
Other games on Thursday included: (away teams come first)
Jeremy Lin reaches 5,000 points with his NBA career scoring during the game of the Atlanta Hawks losing to the Denver Nuggets 93-138.
Atlanta Hawks 93-138 Denver Nuggets
San Antonio Spurs 111-116 Los Angeles Clippers