What an offensive fireworks display of the Warriors and what a comeback for the Rockets!The Dubs start the game with enormous fire power, but Houston fights back – and after a lot of drama he finally wins the 122:121 victory (BOXSCORE).In addition to the defeat, Golden State has to put up with another drop of courage.
What a drama in the Oracle Arena!In the first few minutes of the game, the Dubs presented themselves in championship form.Obviously, the banner ceremony and handing over of the championship rings before the game acted as a motivation injection.Golden State came out of the cabin with enormous firepower and scuttled three by three.
James Harden (27 points, 10 assists) helped Houston keep pace in the first quarter, but the rockets continued to lose ground as the first half progressed.Thus, P. J.’s strong performance also helped in the beginning.Tucker (20 points, 6 rebounds) and Eric Gordon (24 points) not much from the bank.
In the meantime, Golden State was able to beat 17 points and simply showed no mercy with defensively overtaxed rockets.Led by Klay Thompson, the Warriors beat the guests in the first half alone 11 threesomes around the ears.
The same thing happened in the second half.Smaller rounds brought the rockets back into striking distance, but Golden State always found the right answer: Outstanding player for a long time was Draymond Green, who barely passed a triple-double (9 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists), but also had to leave the floor at the beginning of the fourth quarter with an injury to his knee.
Afterwards, a break in the game of the Warriors was visible.From the initially dominant appearance of the dubs there was now only little to see, the mistakes were frequent, the throws did not fall any more.In the final section, Houston even took the lead for the first time since the opening minute – and saved her over time.Kevin Durant’s final Buzzer-Beater (20 points, 7 assists) left the final MPP too late after watching the TV pictures.
Despite a weak performance by Chris Paul, Houston still managed to secure victory and spoiled the championship celebrations of the Warriors with his comeback.They also have to fear for Green.
Warriors vs.Rockets: Click here for the BOXSCORE!
James Harden.Since his new backcourt colleague Chris Paul had a very black day, there was once again a lot of responsibility on Harden’s shoulders.However, this responsibility was fulfilled.Both as a scorer and ball distributor Harden was convincing.In addition, he was dangerous from a distance (4/9 threesomes) as well as with his drives.
Kevin Durant.Sure, the first look at Durant’s statline doesn’t necessarily speak for a flop.However, the 29-year-old made 8 turnovers.This was definitely too much and even with the strong 4 blocks it was impossible to make up for.In addition, Durant had no luck with the Buzzer-Beater because the spalding left his hand too late.
Against the fast game of the Warriors Rockets-Head-Coach Mike D’ Antoni relied on a very small lineup with Ryan Anderson as centre and Tucker as power forward.A classic Big Man wasn’t standing on the floor.But five more than powerful triple marksmen.This in turn enabled the rockets to take up a lot of space under the basket.Since Draymond Green was also lacking the Dubs as a ring protector, Houston used this advantage very skillfully and won the race.