Warriors lock down Rockets in rock fight of a Game 1 win

Golden State won 95-85, countering Houston’s rebounding with a lot of steals, and held the Rockets to a season-low in points.

The Houston Rockets have one of the NBA’s most stifling defenses. In Game 1 of their first-round series, the Golden State Warriors proved they’re not too shabby on the defensive end themselves.

Steph Curry scored 31 points and made five three-pointers as the Warriors took back home-court advantage with a 95-85 win over the Rockets, holding Houston to their lowest point total of the season. The Rockets cut a 23-point Warriors lead all the way down to three points late, but Curry hit a long three to give the Warriors some breathing room.

The Rockets closed to four points when Fred VanVleet made his second three-pointer of the game — he was 2-for-13 — but Moses Moody answered with his own triple. That triggered a game-sealing 11-2 run, featuring three buckets by “Playoff” Jimmy Butler.

Butler filled up the stat sheet with 25 points on 10-for-19 shooting, seven rebounds, six assists, and five steals. The Warriors got 14 steals as a team, and won the turnover battle, 11-16. Brandin Podziemski scored 14 points and made three triples, adding eight much-needed rebounds and five assists.

For the Rockets, Alperen Sengun had 26 points and nine rebounds, but turned the ball over five times. Steven Adams had six points and 12 rebounds in 20 minutes, while Jabari Smith, Jr. had 11 points and six rebounds, as the Rockets bench tried to make up for a miserable game from Jalen Green, who shot 3-for-15 and scored just seven points.

Houston came out firing to start the game. Alperen Sengun had eight of the Rockets’ points in a 13-5 start, which included a 7-0 start.

Near the end of the first quarter, Curry reacted to the Rockets defense selling out to deny him threes by finding a path to the hoop. He found Butler for a floater, then hit back-to-back buckets himself.

The game truly changed when the second quarter began and the Warriors began forcing a ton of turnovers. After Alperen Sengun opened the quarter with a 10-footer, Golden State went on an 18-3 run that featured five steals, culminating in a Draymond-to-Steph layup.

One key coaching decision came when Steve Kerr went to Gui Santos when Houston pulled Sengun and Steven Adams at the same time. Subbing for Quinten Post, Santos made a series of hustle plays, helping to force turnovers, running the floor to draw fouls, and drilled a three.

Curry didn’t make his first three-pointer until there was only 2:03 left in the second quarter. Once he broke the seal, Curry drained another one two possessions later. He scored eight of the Warriors’ last 11 points of the half, as they closed on an 11-2 run that gave them a 47-34 lead going into the locker room.

In the third quarter, Curry hit a shot over Jalen Green that was so impressive that TNT’s Kevin Harlan shouted, “Geometrically that should not have happened!”

Minutes earlier, Butler sank a three and pointed at Reggie Miller, the other member of TNT’s broadcast crew, and yelled, “You like that?”

A pair of Curry free throws stretched the Warriors lead to 66-43, but the Rockets responded. They got a steal, forced a shot clock violation, and grabbed eight offensive rebounds in the final six minutes of the quarter. The result was a 17-3 run to close the quarter and leave the Warriors with only a 69-60 lead going into the fourth.

Perhaps coincidentally, this all happened after Buddy Hield entered the game for Moses Moody. Hield missed two shots in the Rockets’ run, but seemed to forget how to dribble at times, with one rebound bouncing helplessly off his hands out of bounds to give the Rockets a second chance.

Kerr also responded to the Rockets’ double-big lineup of Sengun and Adams by inexplicably pairing Kevon Looney with Quinten Post, a combination that might not have played more than five minutes this season outside of garbage time. Rockets coach Ime Udoka played his two centers alongside Jabari Smith, Jr., one of the biggest small forwards you’ll ever see, at 6-foot-10 and 225 pounds. Oh, and the lineup also included 6-foot-7 Amen Thompson, who played center last season when Sengun was injured.

Dillon Brooks also 100% tackled Gary Payton II after Green fouled him on a rebound, pretending to fall and diving into a Warrior like he was J.R. Smith in the 2016 NBA Finals.

A key moment in the final quarter happened when Amen Thompson was whistled for a blocking foul on Brandin Podziemski, then laid in the key until Udoka was convinced to challenge the call. He was unsuccessful, and while Poidz split the free throws, Udoka couldn’t challenge when the referees blew an out-of-bounds call in the Warriors’ favor, and the Rockets couldn’t challenge.

The Warriors had to use a challenge in the second quarter to get possession on another play the referees blew, but we’re sure this missed call will be brought up as the reason Houston missed so many three-pointers in this game for at least the next decade.

The Rockets dominated on the glass, which is how they stayed in the game while starting the game 3-for-23 from behind the arc. They got a lot of second-chance points, but effectively gave all of them back with all the points off turnovers — 25 points according to Udoka. The Warriors managed to match Houston’s physicality, if not their rebounding.

Jonathan Kuminga remained out of Steve Kerr’s rotation, with Santos and Gary Payton II essentially replacing his minutes. It was Kerr’s 100th playoff win, tying Larry Brown for sixth place in NBA history. Next up, Erik Spoelstra, who did not add to his career win total Sunday.

Golden State won a road playoff game for the 29th series in their last 30, the exception being their 2023 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. They’re now 6-6 in Houston during the playoffs in the Steph Curry era. Wednesday, they’ll try to make it 7-6.