The Warriors protected their home court and will head to Houston with a 2-0 series lead after taking care of business in a 115-109 win over the Rockets on Tuesday night at Oracle Arena.
The Warriors protected their home court and will head to Houston with a 2-0 series lead after taking care of business in a 115-109 win over the Rockets on Tuesday night at Oracle Arena. Kevin Durant led a balanced scoring effort from the Dubs with 29 points, as all five Warriors starters scored in double digits.
The Warriors led by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, but the Rockets trimmed it to three with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter. Six games removed from losing a 31-point lead at home to the Clippers, the Warriors didn’t let history repeat itself. Instead, they responded with a 9-0 spurt capped by a Draymond Green dunk that sent Oracle Arena into a near frenzy.
The Warriors never trailed in this game, and the Dubs’ lack of turnovers had everything to do with that. The Dubs had just two turnovers in the first quarter, but Houston, meanwhile, committed nine that led to 14 points for the Warriors, helping the Dubs to get out to a lead they would never lose. The Rockets would finsh the game with 18 turnovers leading to 24 Warriors points.
“Despite that quick start, we were fighting them off the whole game,” Kerr said.
TEAM LEADERS
Andre Iguodala once again started the game as the Dubs went without a traditional center, and he made his presence felt early. He scored the team’s first six points of the game and finished the game 6-for-9 from the field for 16 points, including some big dunks at key times for the Dubs.
“He doesn’t look 35 to me,” Kerr said. “When you combine that athleticism with that brain, now you have a hell of a player … He does so many things for us and I thought he was incredible tonight.”
Durant’s streak of four straight games with at least 35 points came to an end, but he made big shots when the team needed them. He had 17 of his game-high 29 points in the second half, including a pair of threes and another jumper at the start of the third quarter. In addition, he tallied a pair of blocked shots that helped keep the Rockets below 50 percent shooting for the second straight game.
Klay Thompson had back-to-back 3-pointers later in the third quarter to give the Dubs their largest lead of the game (15), but the Warriors would go cold after that, being held scoreless for the final 4:15 of the period and without a made field goal for more than six minutes bridging the third and fourth quarters.
Two big buckets from Shaun Livingston in the fourth quarter would help stall a Houston comeback attempt, but they still were able to chip away at their deficit. The Rockets, who outscored the Dubs by three after the first quarter, went 17-for-40 on 3-pointers for the game and were within three after Clint Capela split a pair of free throws with 6:44 left in the game.
But again, the Warriors had an answer. Stephen Curry, who dislocated a finger on his left hand in the first quarter and once again was in foul trouble for a good portion of the game, sank his third 3-pointer of the game, sparking that 9-0 run that provided just enough cushion for the Dubs to take a 2-0 series lead.
After playing every other day for the last two games of the first round and the first two games of this current series, the Warriors will have three days off before the series resumes with Game 3 on Saturday in Houston.
More notable moments from Game 2:
- Golden State is 14-5 vs. Houston in the postseason dating back to 2015… Including the current series, the Warriors and Rockets have faced each other in four of the last five postseasons.
- The Warriors are 6-2 overall this postseason… Golden State has won 12 of its last 14 postseason games overall and 22 of its last 25 postseason home games.
- The Warriors’ record in Game 2 is now 14-4 dating back to the 2015 postseason… Golden State’s all-time record in Game 2 is 36-33.
- For the first time in franchise-postseason history (dating back to when the NBA began tracking lineups in 1970-71), all five Warriors starters scored 15-or-more points in the same game.
- The Warriors improved to 6-1 all-time in the postseason when utilizing the starting lineup of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green.
- Curry, Durant and Thompson combined for 70 points and are now 21-2 all-time when combining for 70-or-more points in the same postseason contest (5-1 this postseason).
- Tonight marked Golden State’s second wire-to-wire win this postseason (first: April 18 at L.A. Clippers, a 132-105 victory).
- With a capacity crowd of 19,596, Golden State recorded its 337th consecutive sellout (regular season and playoffs), the longest streak in franchise history.
- Kevin Durant posted a game-high tying 29 points, with five rebounds, four assists, one steal and two blocks in a team-high 44 minutes.
- Draymond Green recorded 15 points, game-highs of 12 rebounds and seven assists, while adding two steals in 39 minutes.
- Stephen Curry tied Manute Bol (29) for 10th on the Warriors all-time postseason blocks list… Curry scored 20 points, adding three rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block in 33 minutes.
- Klay Thompson tallied 21 points and five rebounds… With three three-point baskets, he tied Manu Ginobili (324) for fourth on the NBA’s all-time postseason threes list.
- Andre Iguodala contributed a postseason-high 16 points in his second consecutive start, adding five rebounds and four assists.