With vintage performances by Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler, Golden State stifles Houston’s return efforts to enter match 1.
Houes – By simply going through the dashboard, the opening weekend of the NBA 2025 qualifiers finally lacked gas. Eight games over two days had provided all kinds of offensive protruding facts and many big team totals.
There were the 131 points Oklahoma City hung on Memphis, while New York increased to score 123 against Detroit. Cleveland displayed 121, while Indiana and Minnesota each marked 117. Even the pistons, clippers and heat have reached three -digit figures.
Then came Golden State to Houston, the last of the openers and, by all the appearances, operating on smoke. Teams No. 2 and n ° 7 of the West Conference scored 180 points combined, the Rockets not even reaching the points The Miles per hour (88) of Doc Brown, the speed necessary for such a return game.
“It was like 1997 for me, a NBA game completely different from what we are used to,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr. “It is not a typical modern NBA team.… They are a bit old -fashioned and in many ways like their coach. IME (Udoka) was a crusher, a hard physique – that’s how Houston is. ”
And that’s probably how this series will take place.
Here are five points to remember from the victory of the Warriors 95-85 Sunday evening at the Toyota Center, putting them at a start 1-0 in the series of seven best:
1. Grit and Gride des Warriors
As long as Stephen Curry is daring, cutting and raising in the attack on this team, he will always be known for his 3 deep points and a powerful attack. But the little secret in the impressive finish of Golden State (23-8) in the regular season was the way in which Jimmy Butler’s acquisition raised the defense.
Most of the attention went to the way butler’s methodical style gave the Warriors a counterpoint to Curry, a second way to enter their attack and a better shot of free throws. But he also added a certain defensive tenacity, which goes beyond individual butler skills for this purpose. Its presence allows Warriors to play with their defensive clashes and patterns.
“It is so versatile,” said Draymond Green. “You can sometimes throw it on Bigs, you can throw it on guardians. You can somehow move it everywhere. ”
2. The Rockets Sengun-Or-Bust offense
Alperen Sengun, the remarkably qualified Turkish Center as a Houston, did not seem disconcerted during its beginnings in the playoffs. I cannot say the same thing about some of his young teammates, such as Jalen Green, Amen Thompson and Tari Eason. Having a guy out of the eight who has played Reach or at the top of the season will not do the work.
It is good for the Rockets to use Sengun as a version of Nikola Jokić: a point center and a hub for their attack. It was their best option overnight, hitting mid -range jump shots and a few hooks / flips on the ground in the basket.
Several times, he seemed to force the passes, as if she were aware of helping with the biggest part of the offensive. But who could blame him? In three quarters, with Houston down 69-60, Sengun had 10 goals on the ground in nine of the other starters. He ended up shooting 11 out of 18, while the other rockets combined to reach 23 out of 69.
3. Many really offensive rebounds
Although the low score on Sunday was a little surprising, the style of play was planned. The two parties described it as a “basketball for possession” in the days that led the series. Kerr immediately noticed that the Rockets had launched 87 shots to the 76 of his team, a disparity that no coach welcomes.
The reason? The 22 Houston offensive rebounds built six from Thompson and five from Steven Adams (12 in total in 19 minutes of the bench). The Rockets are larger than the Warriors and came to remove the balloon from the window – they led the NBA with 1,200 offensive rebounds, 105 more than the Portland finalist.
In this match, 22 recovered shots turned into 22 second chance points and almost a quarter of the Houston buckets. The Warriors do not expect to win this category, but they want to stand at a higher level in the bases – blocking, grabbing the rebound with two hands and so on.
“If it’s a half-terrain match, I really think our defense can do the job,” said Kerr.
4. Butler as a soothing influence
Give credit to the Rockets. They had lagged behind 23 to half in the third quarter, with the possibility of completely flattening the Memphis against OKC in the first of the four games on Sunday. Instead, beginners in the playoffs tightened their defense and brought the offensive of the second and third chance to 72-68 with 8:49 to play.
It was then that Butler, who had returned a few moments before, went full for Golden State. He scored six points, seized two rebounds and obtained two interceptions. The Warriors had 14, key the 25 points they scored on 17 rocket reversals.
Above all, Butler – in his first game “Playoff Jimmy” for his fifth employer – made good decisions at the best times.
Jimmy Butler Amasse 25 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 assists in the victory of Match 1 of Golden State against Houston.
5. No curry fatigue
When the Rockets did not send Thompson and other greatest defenders at the temple of Fame, they had their guys in the rear area working to test Curry defensively. It’s as old as curry souvenir projects, a tactic to empty part of his energy where he can do the least harm opponents.
Even when the opposing rear zone does not draw 7 out of 34 (2 out of 17 on 3 points) as Fred Vanvleet and Jalen Green did, it rarely provides results that balance the results.
Kerr said: “Steph has faced this all his career. People are trying to choose it. He is a very good defender.”
Curry scored 31 points, reaching five of his nine attempts from 3 points from afar and further, the protruding facts for others, Ho-Hum of him.
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Steve Aschburner wrote on the NBA since 1980. You can send it by e-mail herefind His archives here And Follow him on x.
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