Golden State Warriors: 3 things that went wrong in Game 2 vs. Rockets

The Golden State Warriors lost Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals to the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center. Here’s a list of what went wrong on Wednesday.

The reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors simply didn’t look like the defending champs in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday, losing to the Houston Rockets 127-105 at the Toyota Center.

The game began tightly contested with a 26-21 first quarter, and it appears as if the rest of the game would play out the same way. Unfortunately, the Warriors allowed the contest to go way out of hand over the course of the last 12 minutes of the first half, allowing the Rockets to score 38 points in the second quarter.

Many expected the Dubs to explode for one of their signature runs out of the halftime break, but other than KD’s 18 points in third quarter, nothing seems to go just right for Golden State. The Rockets continued to score at will for the rest of the night, successfully holding off any attempt by the Warriors to close the deficit.

Kevin Durant led all scorers with 38 points on 13-of-22 shooting from the field (59.1 percent), 3-of-7 shooting from behind the arc (42.9 percent) and 9-of-9 shooting from the free throw line. In addition, he tallied three rebounds in 35 minutes, but finished a game-low -28.

Stephen Curry was the only other Warriors player to finish in double-digit scoring, dropping in 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in 34 minutes. He shot 7-of-19 from the field (36.8 percent), 1-of-8 from long range (12.5 percent) and 1-of-1 from the free throw line.

Now that we’ve got the stats out of the way, let’s explore the reasons why the Warriors lost Game 2.

Too much KD, not enough Splash Brothers

Watching the Warriors shy away from their usual ball movement in Game 2 was certainly a cause for concern…and confusion.

Prior to Game 2, the Warriors were averaging 28.4 assists per game, which was the highest mark among all playoff teams. In Game 2, the Warriors looked much more like the opposing Rockets by resorting to a number of isolation plays, resulting in just 21 assists for the night.

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Looking at how the touches were distributed is also quite concerning. According to NBA Advanced Stats, Kevin Durant had 63 touches, which was the third-most on the Warriors behind Draymond Green‘s 90 and Stephen Curry’s 68.

The difference however, was KD made only 27 passes out of his 63 touches (42.8 percent), while Draymond made 79 passes (87.7 percent) and Curry made 44 (64.7).

While Durant has scored at least 37 points the past two games, he hasn’t exactly shown much versatility, averaging just 3.0 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.0 steals and 0.5 blocks. He may be an unstoppable scorer, but his lack of production in other areas has made the Warriors incredibly predictable and one-dimensional.

And I’d hate to say it, but that kind of basketball just hasn’t embodied the #StrengthInNumbers mantra the team has preached all season. In fact, Houston looked much more like the Warriors in Game 2, ending the game with their top-5 scorers in double-digits.

Probably the biggest surprise: Klay Thompson touched the ball just 32 times in Game 2 after recording 50 touches in Game 1. That’s no way to get your third-best scorer on the team involved, and the team is most definitely going to need him as the postseason wanes on.

Poor defense

Defense wins championships, and part of what makes the Golden State Warriors a championship team is their ability to dominate on both ends of the court.

In Game 2, Golden State’s usual defensive intensity just wasn’t there, which led to the Rockets shooting 51.1 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from behind the arc (60.2 effective field goal percentage).

And when we take a closer look at GSW’s defensive stats, we find that Andre Iguodala was by far the best defender among the Hamptons 5, forcing opponents to shoot just 5-of-11 from the field (45.5 percent) and 1-of-6 from long range (16.7 percent) in 60 defensive possessions.

Related Story: 5 things Warriors need to expect from the Rockets in Game 2

Curry also didn’t too bad in 72 possessions, over the course of which his matchup shot 1-of-3 from three (33.3 percent) and 4-of-10 overall (40.0 percent).

The rest of the guys, however, were a bit more disappointing:

• Durant:: 78 possessions, 10-for-18 FG (55.6 percent), 4-for-10 3P (40.0 percent).
• Draymond: 76 possessions, 7-for-12 FG (58.3 percent), 4-for-7 3P (57.1 percent).
• Klay: 77 possessions, 10-for-11 FG (90.9 percent), 5-for-5 3P (100 percent).

Lack of energy

One of the things my dad used to suggest to me when I trained in MMA was to always be the first guy to land a hit. His reasoning: “everyone has a plan…until they get smacked in the face.” Funny enough, that’s exactly what normally leads to Warriors losses: the Dubs get smacked early, then fail to recover.

After their thorough 119-106 victory in Game 1, the Warriors came into Game 2 thinking themselves more than capable of disposing of the Rockets at half their usual energy. That overconfidence came back to bite them in the ass as Houston charged full speed ahead right out of the gates.

Their total lack of energy has been a problem since 2016. They start the game careless and slow, expecting to stay in control for the rest of the game; a second later, they find themselves in too deep a hole to dig out of.

I’m not sure exactly what the Dubs were expecting, but the Rockets for sure caught them off guard. It’s almost as if they forgot Houston is actually a good team.

The thing that makes the Rockets so dangerous is they understand their backs are up against the wall, and the only way to get things back to equal ground is to channel their desperation into uncontainable ferocity.

Next: Curry wins defensive battle vs. Harden in Game 1

If the Warriors fail to match that level of intensity and effort in the next two games at Oracle Arena, this series could end up being much longer than previously expected.