It’s not all golden for Curry after criticism, fine for flop
OAKLAND, Calif. — Stephen Curry enjoyed watching his daughter Riley take over his Game 1 postgame news conference on Tuesday.
But the NBA’s MVP was left almost speechless when he learned that some in the media weren’t fond of the father-and-daughter act.
“Criticism for what?” said Curry, when asked about the negativity directed his way. “I want to know what the criticism was. I mean, until I understand what they’re talking about, I won’t react to it.”
The Golden State guard’s Wednesday didn’t start out any better when he found out he had been fined $5,000 for violating the NBA’s anti-flopping rules during Game 1.
With 3:07 remaining in the fourth quarter, Curry fell to the floor after making a 3-pointer contested by Rockets forward Terrence Jones.
Going small is a big opportunity
The Warriors had enough success with their small lineups that they seem certain to use them again, and if the Rockets’ Dwight Howard is out, that scenario looms even more likely.
The problem for the Rockets was that they did not take advantage of the Warriors’ small lineups with Howard out or struggling.
“I’d love to be able to go big against this Warriors team,” coach Kevin McHale said. “We’ve got to punish them on the boards. We had 14 offensive rebounds. The problem is so did they. But five or six, seven of those were driven by their guards coming in and rebounding from the perimeter. We’ve got to do a better job of that.
“If they go super small, believe me, there are holes in that lineup. We’ve just got to exploit them.”
Harden exudes confidence
Guard James Harden is confident the Rockets can win Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.
Harden said the problems the team had in its opening loss were correctable.
“We have to have the same mindset we had in Game 1 — limit their runs, limit our turnovers. I think we did a good job of controlling the ball, but they had two runs at the end of the second (quarter) and end of the fourth. We take that out of the game. and we will be all right.”
Harden said that despite the knee injury center Dwight Howard suffered in the game, the Rockets have a positive attitude about the next game and the rest of the series.
“We have a lot of confidence,” Harden said. “There are a couple of errors that we can control and fix for next game and continue to move the basketball. They are a really good defensive team and obviously a high-powered offensive team, so we have to be very efficient at both ends.”
Green minimizes Ariza collision
Warriors forward Draymond Green said an altercation between him and Trevor Ariza during the second half Tuesday didn’t mean anything and was just something that happened in the heat of the moment.
The two got tangled up near the Rockets bench when Green was setting a screen and collided with Ariza, who fell onto Green. When Ariza tried to get up, Green held his legs to keep him down. No calls were made.
“Yeah, they’re a competitive ballclub; we’re a competitive ballclub,” Green said. “Ariza is kind of their me, and he’s a very emotional leader. He’s the X factor. He’s just that guy who kind of does a lot for them.
“It’s not a surprise to me that me and him would get into something like that, but at the end of the day, it was nothing. Like he ran to me, I fell over, he tripped over me. I thought he tried to kick me, so I grabbed his legs. … At the end of the day, it’s respect both ways. … No hard feelings.”
Two Warriors get defensive honors
Golden State’s Draymond Green (first team) and Andrew Bogut (second team) were named to the NBA All-Defensive team on Wednesday.
“It means a lot,” Green said. “All year, we’ve held each other down. If I get beat, he’s there to cover for me. If he gets beat, I’m there to cover for him. And it’s like that with the entire team, but for both of us, our front line, to get All Defensive team honors, that’s incredible.”
Coach Steve Kerr said the honors show the Warriors are more than just an offensive team, which they are often labeled as.
“I think it’s just great that our guys were recognized for their efforts,” Kerr said. “The strength of this team really the last couple years — not just this year but the last two, three years — has been the defense. No. 1 in defensive efficiency this year. Our work in the Memphis series the last three games defensively changed the series.
“So a lot of people talk about us being a jumpshooting team, and we are. But all those jump shots are really set up by our defense. Our defense allows us to stay in games like last night where maybe we’re getting blitzed early. We usually can count on making five or six stops in a row.”
Joining Green on the first team were Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio), Tony Allen (Memphis), Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers) and DeAndre Jordan (Clippers).
Trevor Ariza, Pat Beverley and James Harden were the Rockets receiving votes.