In a rematch of last year's Western Conference finals, the Golden State Warriors narrowly defeated the Houston Rockets, 104-100, in Game 1 of their second-round series.
Despite rough performances from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the Warriors prevailed behind another sensational outing from Kevin Durant, who led the way with 35 points.
While the Warriors did emerge victorious in this one, there were several questionable non-calls from the referees -- most of which hurt the Rockets. On at least five different occasions it appeared James Harden and Chris Paul were fouled on 3-point attempts, only for the referees to ignore what looked to be obvious physical contact and fouls following their shot attempts.
None was more prevalent than what we saw during the closing seconds of the game with the Rockets trailing 103-100 when Harden appeared to be fouled by Draymond Green on the close-out with 9.1 seconds remaining. The refs didn't call a foul and the Rockets went on to turn over the ball after grabbing an offensive rebound.
The close win by the Warriors sets up a Game 2 matchup for Tuesday night at Oracle Arena in which the Rockets absolutely cannot afford to fall down 2-0.
While Curry's shot will be remembered as the difference maker, he struggled all game (3-of-10 on 3-pointers with 18 points) as did Klay Thompson (13 points on 5-of-13 shooting). Durant was the lone Warriors player who was consistently making shots and carried the team afloat despite the Rockets being within striking distance.
Durant finished the win with 35 points, just a game after he finished with a playoff career-high 50 points in the series-clinching win over the Clippers on Friday night.
This game was close all throughout and the Rockets even led by a couple of points during different instances over the course of the game. However, you never felt as if the Rockets were in control of this game -- because the Warriors dictated the pace, regardless of what the score indicated.
