HOUSTON (AP) — Draymond Green easily boiled down the key to Golden State's victory over the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series Sunday night.
“In order for us to win basketball games it requires Steph Curry to be great,” Green said. “And he was just that.”
Curry scored 31 points and the Warriors built a huge lead and held on to beat the Rockets 95-85.
Curry was 12 of 19 from the field, hitting 5 of 9 3-pointers. He wowed his teammates with a couple of circus shots that caused the bench to go wild.
Jimmy Butler added 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals in his playoff debut for the Warriors after joining them in a trade from Miami in February.
“(Curry) just made some amazing plays and obviously carried us offensively along with Jimmy,” coach Steve Kerr said.
The seventh-seeded Warriors led by 23 in the third quarter, but second-seeded Houston cut it to 69-60 entering the fourth.
A basket by Amen Thompson with about 5 1/2 minutes remaining got the Rockets within four. Curry hit his fifth 3-pointer of the night a few seconds later to make it 82-75.
The Rockets cut it to four again with about 2 1/2 minutes left on a 3 by Fred VanVleet. This time Moses Moody hit a 3-pointer to start a 7-0 run that made it 91-80 and sent fans streaming for the exits.
Game 2 of the best-of seven series is Wednesday night in Houston.
The Warriors got the win despite Houston having a 22-6 advantage on the offensive boards.
“I think we can play a lot better,” Green said. “That’s the encouraging part about it. I don’t think we played very well at all.”
It was the 100th career playoff coaching victory for Kerr, who moved into a tie with Larry Brown for sixth-most playoff wins.
“I’m lucky to coach the guys that I do,” Kerr said. “Players win games. It’s our job to try to help them along a little bit here and there.”
The Rockets, who returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2020, got 26 points from Alperen Sengun in his first career postseason game. But VanVleet and Jalen Green struggled, making just 7 of 34 shots.
“We just didn't execute,” VanVleet said. “Maybe the physicality was an issue, but I thought we matched that for the most part.”
VanVleet was 2 of 13 from 3-point range on a night Houston made just 6 of 29 3-pointers and was 11 for 20 on free throws.
The Warriors got a spot in the playoffs with a 121-116 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night in the Play-In Tournament.
They got yet another playoff victory over the Rockets after eliminating them four times from 2015-19.
Curry said this game felt different than those victories since these Rockets are a completely different team than the ones he faced back then.
“Playoff composure and experience in general allows you to kind of withstand the runs a little bit and not get flustered,” he said. “So we rely on that more than any of the history here.”
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Kristie Rieken, The Associated Press
