Steve Kerr’s easy gameplan boils down to at least one level of religion.
“If it’s a halfcourt game, I really think our defense can get it done this series,” the Warriors coach mentioned Sunday evening.
The Warriors backed up Kerr’s well-earned confidence by holding the higher-seeded, homecourt Houston Rockets to their lowest scoring output of the season in a 95-85 win in Sport 1 of what’s shaping as much as be a bruising first-round Western Convention playoff matchup.
The Rockets’ rebounding edge allowed them to take 11 extra photographs they usually nonetheless couldn’t match the Warriors’ scoring output, due to a Golden State protection that held them to 39.1% capturing from the sphere and solely six 3-pointers on 29 makes an attempt (20.7%).
“I think, overall, we just flew around,” mentioned Draymond Inexperienced, named certainly one of three finalists for the NBA’s Defensive Participant of the 12 months award earlier within the day. “We didn’t give up any easy looks. We followed our defensive gameplan. Just make them take tough shots.”
The Rockets’ aggressive, usually actually hands-on strategy to guarding Stephen Curry garnered consideration after they held him to three factors of their last common season assembly, nevertheless it was the Warriors’ physicality that caught Houston coach Ime Udoka’s consideration.
With it being the primary postseason sport for Alperen Sengun, Jalen Inexperienced, Amen Thompson and plenty of others on the Rockets’ younger roster, Udoka mentioned he didn’t imagine “the moment” bought to them “but I would say (the Warriors’) physicality at times, just going after guys.”
Segun was the one Rocket in double figures till halfway via the fourth quarter and completed with 26 factors — the one Houston participant with greater than 11 — however even he acknowledged afterward that, “I think we were ready … I will say, I think we were nervous a little bit.”
Inexperienced, who averaged 21.0 factors per sport through the common season, was held to 7 on 3-of-15 capturing, whereas playoff veteran Fred VanVleet went 4-of-19 from the sphere and 2-of-13 from distance. Jabari Smith Jr., who scored 11 factors off the bench, mentioned it wasn’t only a poor capturing evening.
“Our spacing was a little thrown off tonight,” he mentioned. “They were crowding the paint a lot on us. We’ve just got to figure out ways to counteract that. They were packing the paint, trapping Jalen (and) Fred, kind of funneling everything. They were trying to make us make the extra pass and we weren’t making it tonight.”
The Rockets ranked within the backside third of the NBA in 3-point makes an attempt within the common season, and Kerr joked that it “felt like 1997 out there” with their bodily, inside-the-arc offensive type. They averaged 113.4 factors per sport, Thirteenth-most within the NBA, however earned the No. 2 seed with their protection.
The Rockets’ protection ranked seventh within the NBA over 82 video games. The Warriors’ has been the perfect since Jimmy Butler III arrived.
Inexperienced was requested if the win was any extra satisfying given the circumstances.
“We just want to win the game,” he mentioned. “We understand that in order to win, you have to defend at a high level. They’re the No. 2 seed because they defend at a very high level — you have to give them their credit. … But overall, Steph Curry usually finds a way.”
Curry completed with 31 factors, Butler added 25 and the Warriors now maintain homecourt benefit.
They knew the Rockets had been going to get their offensive rebounds — they usually did: 22 of them — however they might decrease their possession benefit by enjoying clear basketball. Houston outrebounded the Warriors by 16, took 11 extra makes an attempt from the sphere and 6 additional photographs from the foul line but in addition turned the ball over 16 occasions to the Warriors’ 11.
“Our defense is big time, and we’re going to count on that,” Kerr mentioned. “We need to recognize that we don’t need to take chances in this series. We need to be clean in our execution and transition. We don’t need to dribble through traffic. We don’t need to throw lob passes to try to get a dunk. We’ve got to be rock solid.”
Initially Printed: April 20, 2025 at 11:33 PM PDT
