Houston Rockets Don’t Show Up To Playoff Opener

17 Apr, 2016

Stephen Curry dazzled from long range and drove to the hoop with flair and fire until a tweaked ankle finally slowed him down.

Once he sat for good after three firm requests to coach Steve Kerr about returning, his supporting cast handled the rest.

“Like a kid in timeout over there on the bench,” Curry said of his mood.

He still did plenty, scoring 24 points as the Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets 104-78 on Saturday in their playoff opener.

The reigning MVP’s status for the next game is uncertain.

“Right now I don’t see a scenario I would be out,” Curry said, noting that could change if it gets worse or there’s risk of further trouble. “Pain tolerance, all that stuff, I kind of know what I can deal with on the court.”

Draymond Green added 12 points and 10 rebounds as top-seeded Golden State carried momentum from setting the all-time wins record Wednesday night with No. 73 into a testy playoff opener some 60 hours later.

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Monday night at Oracle Arena, and Kerr said Curry is questionable for that one. He will be re-evaluated Sunday.

James Harden scored 17 points and didn’t have a free throw attempt for cold-shooting Houston, held to six field goals in the first quarter of the rematch from last year’s Western Conference finals, won by Golden State in five.

Dwight Howard had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Harden was limited to four fouls and four points in the first half before helping Houston narrow a 27-point deficit to 16 late in the third.

Curry utterly flustered defensive menace Patrick Beverley. Then, when Jason Terry took a turn at stopping the reigning MVP, Curry pulled up for long 3s and drove the baseline for reverse layups on the left side. He dribbled right through traffic in the paint late in the first half before double-pumping and beautifully spinning the ball off the glass.

He didn’t slow down until hurting his right ankle just before halftime, but he got it re-taped and briefly returned before heading back to the locker room with 8:31 to go in the third to have it taped once more and not returning to the game.

Curry, who made an NBA-record 402 3-pointers in the regular season, went 8 for 13 with five 3s while playing all of about 20 minutes. Thompson scored 16, Marreese Speights matched his playoff high with 12 points, while Andre Iguodala dished out seven assists.

Now, Golden State’s lone focus is the 15 remaining victories it needs to repeat after capturing the franchise’s first title in 40 years.

Interim Rockets coach J.B. Bickerstaff insisted before the game that his team had no concerns with the raucous home crowd, the Warriors’ wins record or any other potential distraction. Though the Rockets really didn’t play like they were unaffected.

Houston, which reached the playoffs on the final day of the regular season as the No. 8 seed, shot 35.7 percent and went 6 for 22 from long range.

AP

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