Tonight the Houston Rockets got MVP’ed by Stephen Curry.
The NBA MVP Stephen Curry scored a game-high 34 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists and Shaun Livingston came off the bench to add 18 and lead the Warriors to a win over the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Although the Rockets hit some tough shots, they lacked communication and made some costly mistakes in the 4th quarter that unfortunately lost them the game. Golden State did a great job with their small ball lineup, and it seemed that form of a lineup was the big difference maker.
The Houston Rockets were not able to take advantage of the small lineup the Warriors had on the floor due to the pace, speed, and selection of shooters that Steve Kerr had on the court. Nevertheless, this definitely was not an easy win for the Warriors.
Curry hit six 3-pointers on the night and managed to get the better of MVP runner-up James Harden, who was guarded by Klay Thompson through the game. At one point ‘The Beard’ took the game over but it just wasn’t enough as he finished with 28 points. Klay Thompson can hold his own defensively, but James Harden was just tremendously patient with the ball, and managed to hit some brilliant step-back shots.
The Rockets got off to a great start, taking a 49-33 lead in the second quarter. They were getting into the paint at will and abusing Golden State on the pick-and-roll, but great players always find a way and Golden State made a furious comeback to close out the first half. Shaun Livingston was terrific tonight, and he was the main reason the Warriors managed to stay in the game as Golden State ended the half on a 25-6 run to take a 58-55 lead going into the 2nd half.
What made things tough for Houston was when Dwight Howard was forced to leave the game in the third quarter thanks to a knee bruise he suffered in the first half. Golden State capitalized on Dwight’s turnovers in the first half (5), forcing Kevin McHale to take him out for the remainder of the night. Once Dwight was out of the game the Warriors kept attempting more post up plays, and back screens forcing the Rockets to switch, therefore creating mismatches that benefited the Dubs.
Despite all of Harden’s heroics through the course of the game, the Warriors made the last run. With the score tied at 97 late in the fourth quarter, Golden State went on an 11-0 spurt to take a 108-97 lead with under two minutes to go. The Rockets would rip off nine straight points to trim the lead to two with 14.6 seconds remaining, but it simply wasn’t enough.
Trevor Ariza scored 20 points for Houston, while both teams managed to shoot 47 percent from the floor.
Game 2 is at Oracle Arena on Thursday night. Catch all of the action at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.
