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OAKLAND, Calif. – The Golden State Warriors have survived the highly controversial opening game of their much-anticipated second-round series with the Houston Rockets, thanks to the abundance of Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry's last crucial dagger.
The Warriors have also left no doubt that their unexpected efforts to withdraw from the first round and the way these efforts can affect the defense of the title are central to their reflections.
Clearly feeling a sense of urgency over the Rockets even before the opening match, Warrior coach Steve Kerr made a radical change in his lineup for the first game. His most accomplished training was put in place from the beginning. Kerr also penetrated deeper into the bench than normal, eventually using 10 of the 13 players available to counter the fatigue and annoyance caused by Golden State's sales en route to a 104-100 victory in a disgusting match on both sides.
While the Warriors were playing just 36 hours and changing after being coached by the Los Angeles Clippers to an expensive sixth game – in which Klay Thompson and Curry were both injured in the ankle – Kerr transferred the tricky supersub Andre Iguodala in his row of foot-7 Draymond Green in the center. It was the first time that the so-called Hamptons Five from Golden State started a game this season, but Kerr felt he could not resist the uncertain health of his star guards.
"You play in the playoffs and you have to do what you have to do," Kerr said. "You have to play your best players and see what happens."
Durant responded with 35 points – 24 in the second period – to mitigate the damage caused by the 20 Golden State turnovers and equal the total of James Harden of Houston, who needed three more attempts than Durant to get there. Green (14 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists) and Iguodala (14 points on a 6-for-7 shot in 34 minutes) also responded with solid games to lighten the requirements of the gimpy Thompson and Curry.
Thompson, however, remained even more than 41 minutes, despite pre-game fears that he could not even be able to play. Curry survived the last six minutes of regularization with five fouls and drained a decisive 3-pointer with 25.9 seconds to go in an insulating imbalance against Nene, Houston's center-back, after the Rockets made draw in the 100-98.
The Rockets left not only regretting having missed the opportunity to beat the field advantage against the two defending champions, but also complaining about what they considered to be multiple training during the attempts of 3 points of Harden which should have been whistled for faults.
Houston missed 16 of his first 18 attempts in the 3-point range and had only 14 of 47. Harden failed to foul his 3-point test, saved by Green, at 9.1 seconds of the end, which led his teammate Chris Paul to eject a few seconds later for protesting the non-appeal.
It was the 12th ejection of N.B.A. playoffs already after just three ejections in the post-season 2018.
"We just need to let go and not worry about how they officiate and sit there to take it," said Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni, who was found responsible for one of Houston's three technical fouls. "I'm a little old for that, but that's how it goes."
Harden said, "I just want a chance, man. Call the game as it is supposed to be called. "
Nearly a year has passed since the Warriors overturned their double-digit deficits in Games 6 and 7 to come out of a 3-2 series deficit and qualify for the title, but the rivalry between them teams are never really sleepy.
According to four people close to the courts who were not allowed to discuss it in public, Philadelphia would have made a lucrative attempt in July to hire Warrior general manager Bob Myers or Daryl Morey of Houston to take over charge the 76ers' office. But Myers and Morey have chosen to stay where they are and have entered the playoffs, knowing that the survivor of this series would instantly become the favorite by consensus to win everything.
When the Rockets fell to fourth place in the West late in the regular season due to their own debauchery, the fall of Houston almost immediately gave rise to a theory that it might be better to face the two champions in title a lap earlier than expected – mainly cool.
Golden State, which has 31 points, lost in the second game against the Clippers during the biggest collapse in playoff history, and the Warriors' inability to close the Clippers in the fifth home game seemed to give more credibility to the theory. Then Thompson and Curry were both injured in Game 6.
However, Morey admitted in a podcast interview with former Times reporter Howard Beck that he "personally wanted to face the Warriors later." After spending almost half a decade trying to build a list that could overthrow the Warriors, Morey was clearly hesitant to publicly declare any benefits of any kind to his team when it appeared in "The Full 48".
The Warriors duly cautioned Morey's caution against Durant in the fourth quarter and finally secured a 1-0 lead for the series in Tuesday night's second game.
"He's one of the best players of all time and I thought we were doing a great job until PJ knew a little problem and things were going on," said D'Antoni, referring to Houston striker PJ Tucker. "And then Kevin arrives."
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