Two wins in Houston would be wise after home troubles against Clippers.
OAKLAND >> So how did the Warriors manage to sweep two games at Oracle Arena against the potent Houston Rockets after losing twice at home in their opening playoff series to the No. 8 seed Los Angeles Clippers?
“I think Houston’s raised our awareness, our level of play,” Warriors guard Klay Thompson said. “We respect them greatly, especially the battle we had last year in the seven-game series. So we want to take care of homecourt.”
The Warriors did that with a 115-109 victory on in Game 2 Tuesday night and will carry a 2-0 lead with them when the Western Conference semifinal series moves to Houston on Saturday.
Last year’s 4-3 Western Conference finals win over the Rockets, in which the Warriors rallied from a 3-2 hole, remains fresh in their minds. This is the fourth postseason meeting between the two franchises in five years, and many fans and experts regard this as a clash between the NBA’s two best teams.
“We don’t want to give them a game — that would give them a ton of confidence,” Thompson said. “Now the goal is to go steal one in Houston.”
The outcome of Game 2 did more than prevent a confidence surge by the Rockets — it tilted the series dramatically in the Warriors’ favor. Only 20 teams in league history have recovered to win a series after dropping the first two games.
The Warriors are 15-2 alltime in the postseason after starting a series 2-0, including 11-1 in the five-year Steve Kerr coaching era
“This is always what you want to do. When you have homecourt, if you can get the first two, it puts you in good shape, with the awareness that you’re just getting started, nothing has happened yet,” Kerr said. “We got to go down to Houston and be ready to play because we know how good they are, we know how hard they’re going to
play.”
On the way to capturing the 2017 and ’18 NBA crowns, the Warriors started 2-0 in seven of their eight playoff series. But that does not provide an absolute guarantee.
The Warriors lost to the Lakers in the 1969 Western Conference semifinals after winning twice to open the series in Los Angles.
And they famously lost the 2016 NBA Finals to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers after winning the first two games at home on the way to establishing a 3-1 series lead. That’s the only postseason series the Warriors have lost in 17 tries under Kerr.
But it can happen. The Cavaliers recovered from an 0-2 start to beat Boston in the 2018 playoffs, the Celtics did the same thing to Chicago the year before, and Portland rallied past the Clippers in 2016.
That’s four times in four seasons a team has fought back from an 0-2 start to win in the postseason. Not that the Warriors need any further reminders or motivation.
“Houston is a great team and they play great at home,” reserve forward Jonas Jerebko said. “Now we can go to Houston and feel good about ourselves. But we’re (only) halfway there.”
Thompson countered the suggestion that the heat is now on the Rockets.
“Honestly, we’re the favorite, so they might have pressure but they really have nothing to lose. I think they’re going to play like that,” he said. “We’ve got to go down to Houston for Game 3 and set the tone early, not relax.
“It’s human nature, up 2-0, to relax. But this team is too good to give them a game.”
• James Harden said he could barely see due to injuries to both eyes Tuesday night, but the Houston Rockets expect the reigning MVP to be back on the court for Game 3 on Saturday. Harden has no cornea damage in his eyes, ESPN reported Wednesday.
Warriors guard Stephen Curry scored 20 points in Golden State’s Game 2 win despite a finger injury that required X-rays in the second quarter.
“It hurts, but it’s all right. Didn’t break anything,” Curry said Tuesday night. “Fortunate, and some higher power’s looking out for me on that one. Just gotta deal with pain and hopefully, before Saturday, that goes away and will be fine.”
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said he was bracing for the worst possible news after seeing the injury in real time, but Curry quickly quelled those fears despite finishing 3 of 13 from 3-point range.
“I looked at the finger and I was just hoping it was a dislocation and not a break,” Kerr said. “And fortunately, that’s what it turned out to be. As far as whether it bothered him, you can ask him that. I thought he did some great things for us and fueled us, and may not have shot the 3 that well, but played a great game for us.”
Harden looked and acted worse for wear following an inadvertent shot from Warriors forward Draymond Green. He squinted and turned his head away from light several times during the game and the postgame press conference. Before the first quarter was halfway over, Harden took a shot to the face from Green, whose left hand crashed into Harden while they fought for a missed shot.
“I can barely see,” Harden said. “Just tried to go out there and do what I can to help my teammates.”
Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni said only something “catastrophic” would put Harden out of commission. Harden still managed 29 points and notched four assists — all after he returned from the locker room and received eyedrops to dull the pain.
• The NBA has rescinded technical fouls that were called Tuesday night on the Warriors’ Green and Nene of the Rockets.
The technicals were called in the third quarter in Game 2 when the two players jawed at each other.
That means Green now has three postseason technical fouls instead of four. Any player who is assessed seven technical fouls in one postseason automatically is suspended one game.