What's up basketball fans! I am here again @dwin0603 to give you another exciting basketball discussion for another episode of NBA Talk, and today we will have a short recap of the match between the Golden State Warriors VS Houston Rockets in Game 1 of their best of 7 playoff series for the Semi-finals. Let's start!
On Sunday night, the Golden State Warriors took care of business in Game 1 defeating the Houston Rockets in a thriller, 104-100 victory at home.
Game Recap
The Warriors faced their Western Conference rival Houston Rockets in the playoffs again which is expected to be a hard fought 7-game series. The Warriors and the Rockets will face each other again for 4 straight years in the postseason where the Rockets still hasn't won one. It will be a chance for the Rockets to get their revenge from last season where they almost defeated the powerhouse Warriors team.
Golden State used a different line up putting Andre Iguodala in the starting line up instead of the 7-foot tall center Andrew Bogut to form a small ball line up which he called the best line up of his team. Curry and Thompson were both questionable before the game after they injured their ankles in Game 6 of the first round series against the Los Angeles Clippers but they still play as the doctors announced that they are clear to play in Game 1 of the second round.
In the first period, the Rockets shot an awful 1 for 14 from the three-point line which results to a 28-19 lead by the Warriors in the first period. While the Rockets are missing their shots from deep, a fan shouted "0 for 28" and "0 for 29" until James Harden buries Houston's first three-point field goal with four and a half minute remaining in the opening quarter.
The second quarter was a tight one as both teams won't slow down and both eager to score every possession. Both teams have something to prove and both wanted to destroy each other. A lot of technical fouls were called as a heated battle escalates as the time is winding down.
Kevin Durant who played spectacular basketball in his last 2 games against the Clippers scoring 50 and 45 points went 35 points here in Game 1 against Houston. Draymond Green also had a great game putting up a near triple-double of 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists.
With under a minute to go, James Harden completes a three-point play to keep the game close 100-98 but Curry knocks down a three on the other side to extend the lead. Then, Harden drives to the basket and slam it to make it 103-100 with 21 seconds left. Houston did not foul in the next possession and they stole the ball. Harden tries a three which looks like a foul on Draymond Green but the refs did not blow the whistle. Chris Paul got the offensive rebound, but they weren't able to make a shot. Paul got ejected with 4 seconds left because of arguing for a foul that wasn't called. It was a tough loss for the Rockets. Let's see how the Rockets respond in Game 2.
My thoughts
James Harden calls out the refs for poor officiating. There are several times where Harden looks fouled shooting a three but all of that doesn't look a foul to the refs. I think the reason why the refs did not call the fouls is because of Harden's reputation about flopping. He always flops and tries to draw fouls every time. In this game, in his case today, some of those look like a real foul. Next game, the Rockets should now know how to handle this situation and stop complaining. They have to adjust in the officiating. If they couldn't sell it to the Refs, they should try other ways to score and not complain about all of the noncalls.
Stats
Kevin Durant - 35 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast
Steph Curry - 18 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast
James Harden - 35 pts, 4 reb, 6 ast
Eric Gordon - 27 pts, 4 reb
Chris Paul - 17 pts, 3 reb, 4 ast
That is all for today folks! I would be glad to hear your opinions about this article, so drop your comments now and let's have some basketball talk! 😁
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