Warriors Ground Rockets in NBA West Final Opener

The Houston Rockets finished the regular season as the top seed in the entire NBA with a record of 65-17, including 34-7 at home, earning home court advantage throughout the playoffs. This was exactly the position the Rockets wanted to be in when they reached the Western Conference Finals against the defending champion Golden State Warriors, in the series everyone was looking forward to, which kicked off with Game 1 on May 14th.

However, things went off script, which, as they say, is why they play the games. The Rockets got 41 points from James Harden and Chris Paul contributed 23 plus 11 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as Golden State took Game 1 119-106. Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 37 points, Klay Thompson had 28, and Stephen Curry chipped in 18.

Game 2 is May 16th in Houston before the series moves to Oakland for Games 3 on May 20th. A 2-0 deficit going to Oakland would be extremely difficult to overcome, so Game 2 is a de facto must win situation for the Rockets.