Big men Alperun Sengun and Steven Adams were arguably the Houston Rockets two best players in Game 1 against the Golden State Warriors, having combined for 32 points and 21 rebounds despite a 95-85 loss on their home floor.
Even with the Warriors emerging with a crucial road victory, much has been made of Houston's size advantage given a huge 22-6 offensive rebounding differential nearly led to an unlikely second-half comeback.
The Warriors don't have to panic with Houston's double-big lineup
However, Sengun and Adams' impact may have been a little overhyped after Game 1 despite their big numbers. They were certainly effective individually, but the vaunted double-big lineup of Sengun and Adams was far less so.
That combination became a real factor for the Rockets in the final weeks of the regular season, posting an incredible 29.9 net rating in 162 minutes on the floor together. Yet there were concerns on whether that would translate to the playoffs, with the lack of shooting/spacing between Sengun and Adams leading to real offensive question marks.
Those question marks were predictably validated in Game 1, with the Sengun-Adams combination further hampering an already lackluster Rockets half-court offense. In 11 minutes with their two bigs on the floor together, Houston posted a paltry 71.4 offensive rating and were -19.5 in net rating.
That would suggest that while much has been made of what Golden State need to do to combat Houston's size and rebounding, they shouldn't panic too much when it comes to the specific double-big lineup of Sengun and Adams.
Steve Kerr countered that with a double-big lineup of his own in Game 1, playing Quinten Post and Kevon Looney together despite having not done it at all during the regular season. The Warrior head coach confirmed he could go to the Post-Looney duo again in Game 2 regardless of the pair combining for zero points, two rebounds and one assist on Sunday.
With Draymond Green taking the primary task of guarding Sengun, it's more about the Warriors needing to limit Adams' impact than it is the two Rockets big men together. Adams monstered Golden State on the interior particularly in the second-half of Game 1, recording 12 rebounds (five offensive) in less than 20 minutes off the bench.
From a Houston perspective, it will be interesting to see whether Ime Udoka goes back to the Sengun-Adams combination for extensive minutes despite the offensive limitations, or if he might actually play the veteran more instead of his All-Star regardless of the fact he had a team-high 26 points on Sunday.