5 Takeaways from Golden State Warriors Winning in Houston
Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Talk about being all bark and no bite!
The Houston Rockets were coming off their first defeat after opening up the regular season at Toyota Center with a 20-point loss to the Denver Nuggets, ready to back up their ill-received comments regarding their second opponent of the season, the Golden State Warriors.
James Harden was ready to prove he was the real MVP last year, Dwight Howard was healthy enough (or so we assume) to contribute at a high level, and newcomer Ty Lawson was prepared to make last year’s actual MVP do more defensively. But as a mentor of mine once said, “You can have the most intricate plan in the world before going into a brawl, but everything changes once you get smacked in the face,” and the Rockets got smacked HARD.
The game started out rather competitive as the first quarter ended with the Rockets trailing by just a single point (no thanks to Harrison Barnes sprinting down the court for a layup that beat the buzzer). Following the incredibly entertaining start to the contest, however, Houston was just simply unable to execute offensively throughout the course of the game.
As much credit should go to the Warriors defense, it was really the Rockets’ offense that failed to take off after the first quarter, resulting in the team being held to 36.6 percent shooting from the field and 21.7 percent shooting from behind the arc. Harden was a huge part of the reason why the team shot so badly, as he led the team with 18 field goal attempts and only four made field goals (1-for-10 from three-point land).
In addition, the Rockets accumulated 16 turnovers — double the amount of Warriors turnovers — on which Golden State was able to score 19 points. The game ended with the Warriors winning 112-92, giving the Rockets their second 20-point loss of the regular season. Probably not the way many saw Houston beginning their season, but it was all in a day’s work for the Warriors having just come off a 111-95 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
But before the Warriors have their rematch against the Pelicans in New Orleans, here’s a few takeaways I had from last night’s game.
Next: Steph Curry is Unguardable