Warriors vs Rockets || Game 1 ||

Yeah I noticed. No one saw it coming and didn’t run to hardens aid.. that’s a great observation. I didn’t think about that. In past years, harden has been known to isolate himself from his teammates. I wonder what the other thought as it happened

Reggie Westley

I don't remember who made the point yesterday, but he said, the game was over after Draymond shoved Hared, and none of the Rockets came to his aid to back him up. It was an interesting observation.

Stevie Ray

I like what Dray did. Maybe a bit extreme but he sent a message. Harden still got off but worked harder for his. Notice how much he danced around the 3pt line. Those same shots won’t be falling tonight. Harden was G checked in the first 90 seconds. He wasn’t expecting that. He tried shrugging it off after Dray got the T but he was shaky mentally.

Reggie Westley

It just feels wrong.

Athletic Alchemy

Appreciate it Mitch!

Athletic Alchemy

if our bench scores it could be over quickly

Athletic Alchemy

I can’t remember wanting to beat a team more than this one. Maybe the Clippers during the Mark Jackson era. We know who was on that team.

Athletic Alchemy

Watching the dubs all year I forget how awful the rockets are to watch offensively. What? You don't like watching a dude stand in one spot dribbling for 18 seconds while 4 other dudes, dressed in matching outfits for no apparent reason, observe and try not to move too much? Offense by CalTrans.

Matt M.

I think its a bit ironic this narrative after this first game, that KD is so unstoppable that its basically unfair. I don't know how many times I heard, "7-footer," watching the herd, jump, speak, for yourself, etc. It was how long everybody thought Anthony Davis was going to make a run against the defending champs? The Warriors are the most loaded team, and I've expressed my personal bias that I think it would be better for the league that KD goes elsewhere in the offseason, but the Warriors still have to go out and execute. And this narrative they won just because they have more talent, they got beat, cuz Harden has no heart, and D'antoni got no brain. The Scarecrow and the Tin man No matter how many cheap shots CP-3 takes in this series it wont make up for the DNA of the two leaders of this team.

Stevie Ray

My brother and I said this exact thing about no one going to help Harden. I think that is HUUUGE. Maybe not everyone saw since it was right after a bucket and Har en did not really bite back, but if anyone did that to Steph, bet everyone is running over, just like when Beal and Day Day went at it earlier this season.

One thing I think is not mentioned enough is that KD does not discriminate; anybody can get it. Lebron, CP3, Harden, all of these other iso guys NEED to switch on to a weaker defender constantly to get theirs (as shown very much in these playoffs). AND KD plays great defense. Best player in the world for sure. And the Dubs employed what D'antoni was thinking about the Rockets should do with Durant: let Har en get his and the rest of the team get clamped down. Durant gets his, but the system the Dubs employ is just too much to for Houston's defense. If Swaggy and Looney continue to play well, do you think we will see Cook or Bell at all this series?

Haha, hey AA you gotta read this. "The team that runs the least amount of iso's in the NBA just schooled the team who runs the most iso's in the NBA on how to win an NBA game with iso's" <a href="https://deadspin.com/the-warriors-are-better-than-the-rockets-1826038408?utm_source=deadspin_twitter&amp;utm_medium=socialflow&amp;utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://deadspin.com/the-warriors-are-better-than-the-rockets-1826038408?utm_source=deadspin_twitter&amp;utm_medium=socialflow&amp;utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter</a>

I liked Draymond setting the tone early against Harden, although he didn't need to go for the neck, that was a little too risky. Looking at the replay you can see Harden make sure he gets into the chest of Draymond while he grabs the ball from the net to try and make the quick inbound, and Dray wasn't having it. Also, pretty interesting that no one on the Rockets had Harden's back during that whole thing, they all watched him take a blow to the chest/neck and didn't run to his aid.

Sarah

At this point it’s too late for that... they may try it but I think you need to play like that for a while for it to be effective.

Athletic Alchemy

Lol love it

Athletic Alchemy

Fair enough

Athletic Alchemy

Dubs flex on the road, Alchemy flexes on the show! Great work! Thanks for putting out quality work!

Mitch Moyers

It’s a subjective call. A guy like AD can really do it with out it being a foul. But when you dislodge the inside guy I think you got to call it. Especially someone like Dray who isn’t giving ground easily.

Athletic Alchemy

Yo I brought up the lack of over the back calls on GSOM three during the game after I saw capella almost land on draymonds head. I can't tell you last time I saw that call in the NBA I assumed they just changed the rule. And another point in Dray, after he got the tech, you see he isn't really screaming AT the refs so he avoids the 2nd tech. He's been turning away and walking away while yelling. He really did it after he got hooked. I think he's realized he can probably scream all he wants to, sans: I fd your mom last night, as long as its not while looking and running towards a ref.

Some of his best games in the regular season comes against the Rockets lol..

I think we can blame the selective replays on a minor amount of incompetence from the TNT crew. They have a bunch of small graphics issues during games and I never feel like TNT is trying to drive any nerratives like ESPN does. Hell if TNT is trying to make a point they should probably tell Barkley to stop announcing ​​that the series is over already.

Aidan Mackenzie

Touché... haha I just think it takes a lot of juice for like you said the inevitable.

Athletic Alchemy

There are three kinds of ready made items in the deli case: the one that looks okay and you say, well ya I could eat that sure, ones that might be okay but just to be sure your gonna check that sell by date, and then there is the item that fails the eye test, you don't even check the sell date as it looks radioactive. Nene, he's that third type of deli item, don't eat the deli items at DAntoni's house, his eyes are failing him.

Steven Stanley

Very true! I think if 2016 gm5 didn’t happen... I would have loved it.

Athletic Alchemy

I think there's one adjustment Houston makes, I just don't know when they'll make it. And it'll be running more if D'antoni pistol action that gets the ball moving and everyone involved. It'll happen if either harden and/or Paul don't have it for a game, or Paul is in but there really isn't just a blatant mismatch. I actually think harden going off screws them up more cause D'antoni will just let him ride but it takes everyone else out. And GS has shown against LeBron in 15 they'll let your guy get 50, but noone else will score and our 3 (or 2 back then) plus our ball movement will out play your 1 dude. I call it the Bron defense. Those dudes don't kill you by scoring, they kill you when they get other people open looks. KD and Klay (65 pts) basically washed harden and bitch ass Paul (64 pts) out. It was curry driving and the off ball easy buckets that were the difference. And GS defense don't give those up. They want you to iso and switching creates all that. I do think they'll start tagging or doubling harden late in games once he's worn out and force the short roll man to make plays or just to surprise him and see if he throws a turnover.

I think Steph was holding on defense to slow down or prevent the inevitable switch onto Harden. Maybe he felt he was only doing what gets done to him all game long. Also, I think Steph was really worn out. Lucky for us, and unlike the Rockets, our team still works when our big star is out of gas. If Harden and Steph both get worn out, it is a big win for us. I'd love to see Steph catch fire on Wednesday!

Personally, I really liked Dray's quick T. I think it was you Alc that talked about how wearing a player down doesn't just mean playing physically with them, but also mentally. We know that Harden doesn't face adversity very well and a quick punch to the beard will help him give up even sooner.

carlosd93

Call me disloyal...but I will continue to tell people that think I hate Steph. I am not a Steph fan, I am not a KD fan, I am not a Klay fan....I am a Warrior fan! He is the Quarterback he will get more of the fame and more of the blame. I dont feel like I was picking on him in this one. I sit down with my time stamps and watch, what I see is what I see.

Athletic Alchemy

Absolutely adore your basketball knowledge and analysis Alc, but sometimes it seems like you’re not even hesitant to pick on Steph. With klay or kd, you’re less likely to hone in on any mistakes they make... since kd came, it’s almost like we’ve forgotten the reason for the warriors present success. Almost feels like you’re still holding the 2016 3-1 loss against Steph 👀👀.

Joshua Fayemi

Nobody talks about him on TV. If he can shoot better, he'll be a starter.

Ryosuke Kimura

Swaggy P coming in clutch. I cannot believe Kerr trusted him enough to play and he delivered. They were all big shots too.

Nathan Glanzer

How the hell are we gonna keep Looney this offseason?

Thomas T