By Ben Tredinnick
Photo Credit: Alex Slitz/Getty Images
Steph Curry was the difference as the Golden State Warriors defeated the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of their Western Conference series.
The future Hall of Famer made a team-leading 31 points and went 12 of 19 in the field, which helped contribute to the large lead that the Warriors built throughout the game.
At one point in the third quarter, this lead was 23 points, and a large, surprising victory was on the cards.
However, the Rockets launched a minor comeback attempt in the second half of the third quarter and the whole of the fourth quarter, with the aim of trying the lessen the blow that Curry and company were giving.
While this did not lead to victory, Houston was able to cut the deficit to 10 points by the end of the game.
As well as Curry, Jimmy Butler contributed 25 points (10 from 19 on field goals) to the Warriors’ total.
Houston’s best contributor in this game was Alperen Sengun, who scored 26 points.
However, apart from Sengun, this was a Rockets side that struggled to compete with Golden State, with Dillon Brooks and Fred VanVleet scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively.
This was not the performance that the Rockets were expecting, especially in front of their home crowd, and may mean that this series is going to be a lot closer than one may think.
You should never rule out an experienced side such as Golden State in the playoffs, and last night’s win only shows why they could be a dark horse to win the championship.
Game 2 of the series is on Wednesday night (9:30 pm ET) in Houston. Will we see another strong performance from Steph Curry, or will the Rockets be able to recover from this defeat and level the series?
Ben Tredinnick is a contributor to The MMM Journal. He can be reached at bmtredinnick@thefourthquartile.com.
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