James Harden did all he could, but in the end the Warriors were too deep and Stephen Curry was too good. Harden scored 28 points and just missed recording a triple-double, but behind a game-high 34 points from Stephen Curry, the Warriors were able to hold on for a 110-106 home win over the Rockets in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.
Rockets vs. Warriors 2015 Game 1 final score: Stephen Curry outduels James Harden to lead Golden State to victory
The MVP and his runner-up put on a show Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, but Golden State emerged with a 110-106 win.
Surprisingly, it was the Rockets who got off to the fast start. Playing in front of a raucous Golden State crowd, which has only seen the Warriors lose three games all year, Houston jumped out to a big early lead. The Rockets' bench scored 12 points in the first quarter as the Warriors kept providing open lanes to the paint. Golden State especially had no answer for the Josh Smith-Dwight Howard foul-line pick-and-roll, and at one point in the second quarter, the Rockets led by 16.
Then Andrew Bogut picked up his third foul of the half and everything changed. The Warriors went with the 6'7 Draymond Green at center and Shaun Livingston at point guard and sped the game up. They also coerced the Rockets into force-feeding Dwight Howard, who had a major size advantage on Green, in the post. Howard, though, turned the ball over five times in the first half, and behind 16 points from Livingston and some typical Curry shots, the Warriors were able to close the first half on a 25-6 run and walk off the floor with a 58-55 lead.
The teams traded baskets for the next 12 minutes. Curry continued to launch, and hit, bombs from deep. Green, who had 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, created plays and points with his passing. James Harden, who hit 11 of his 20 shots from the field, hit some acrobatic left-handed layups.
But less than two minutes into the fourth quarter, Howard was forced to exit the game. He appeared to be dealing with a left knee injury, one which he likely sustained on the play below, during the first quarter.
And yet, even without its center on the court, Houston was able to keep the game close. Rockets head coach Kevin McHale went with a point guard- and center-less lineup and put the ball in Harden's hands.
It was a good decision as Harden put on a show. He used his left hand to get to the basket and hit scoop shots off the backboard. He hit step-back jumpers off nasty crossovers. Klay Thompson, a good perimeter defender, looked helpless. Every shot Harden attempted was a difficult one, and yet it didn't matter. On one possession, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called for a double team to be sent Harden's way, and Harden responded by moving the ball towards Smith in the corner, who connected on an wide-open three-pointer. With that, the game was tied at 97 with 5:10 remaining.
But Harden could only do so much, and Houston never figured out a way to slow down Curry. With 3:12 left in the game, Curry pushed the ball up the court off a Rockets miss, came to a sudden stop at the top of the key and then let the ball fly. Nothing but net. It was his sixth three-pointer of the game (he missed just five times from behind the arc).
The shot gave the Warriors a nine-point lead. Three minutes later Golden State walked off the Oracle Arena floor with a 1-0 series lead.
3 things we learned
The Rockets can’t guard Stephen Curry
It's not just the point total -- which was obviously nice -- the problem was how easy it looked for Curry, who went 13-of-22 from the floor and added five assists. There were numerous times that the Rockets just lost him completely, and with Shaun Livingston playing his best game of the year, Curry was allowed to spend more time off the ball where he is deadly. Golden State ran him off screens and let him set back picks for his teammates, all of which confused Houston. We know the Rockets, who are giving the majority of their point guard minutes to Jason Terry and Pablo Prigioni, have no one to guard Curry one-on-one, but if they can't contain him off the ball, this series is going to be over real fast.
James Harden needs to be perfect for the Rockets to win
Harden was magnificent Tuesday night, particularly in the second half. He hit nine of his 13 shots over the game’s last 24 minutes and scored 21 of his 28 points. The impressive part was that none of the shots were easy. Harden created most of them off the dribble, many of them were pull-up mid-range jumpers and nearly all of them came with a Warrior hand near his face. Usually that hand belonged to Klay Thomspon, an excellent defender who had no answers for Harden. And yet, despite all that, the Rockets were unable to hold on for a win. The scary part is that the Rockets got an MVP-level game from James Harden and it wasn’t enough.
Houston has no answers for Golden State’s small lineup
The game turned for the Warriors when Andrew Bogut went to the bench early on and Steve Kerr decided to go small. That meant putting Draymond Green at center, a move which completely befuddled the Rockets. First, Houston tried force-feeding Dwight Howard in the post to take advantage of his mismatch. In theory that was a good plan, but it also killed the Rockets’ flow on offense. Playing Green at center also allowed Golden State to switch on all Houston screens and play faster. The lineup completely changed the flow of the game, and the Rockets never figured out how to recover, or adjust. With Howard injured, the Rockets also had no one to help them punish the Warriors for going small.
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