Warriors blast past Rockets in opener
Harden scores game-high 41 in loss
Season wins leader Houston battled an entire campaign to seize a homecourt edge throughout the NBA playoffs, but defending champions Golden State stole it away with a 119-106 victory on Monday.
Kevin Durant scored 37 points and Klay Thompson added 28 for the Warriors to capture the best-of-seven Western Conference finals opener in a rare series start on the road for a team seeking its third NBA crown in four seasons.
Stephen Curry added 18 points, six rebounds and eight assists while Draymond Green contributed nine rebounds and nine assists for the Warriors.
NBA scoring champion James Harden netted 41 points to lead the Rockets, who host Game 2 on Wednesday.
Durant scored 17 first-half points and sparked Golden State after the Rockets played aggressively at the start, using two big runs to jump ahead only to have the Warriors overtake them by the middle of the second quarter.
“You know they are going to come out with a lot of energy,” Durant said. “We just tried to take their best punch and keep fighting.”
“To withstand that run says a lot about our team,” Green said. “The further you get along in the playoffs, the more intensity you need to bring.”
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni knows that all too well. “If we’re going to knock these guys off, we have to get a better mental focus,” D’Antoni said. “We ran out of gas a little bit in different spots and they didn’t.
“It’s just a bunch of stuff we can clean up and we will.”
Chris Paul had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets, who fell behind in the third period and couldn’t catch up in the fourth.
Durant says the Warriors know Harden will always be a threat but Golden State must remain poised against a Rockets lineup that can unleash a barrage of three-pointers if their focus lapses.
“We know James is always going to score over us. We just had to keep solid and keep playing hard,” Durant said.
“This Houston team never stops. They are always in the game with three-point shots. We play a calm steady game, look for a good shot and play good D [defense] every time down.”