On April 18, the Warriors hosted Game 2 of the series against the Rockets at home.
In this game, Warriors star Curry missed the game due to a right ankle injury. For the Rockets, Motiejunas returned to the starting lineup. Rockets starting lineup: Ariza, Motiejunas, Howard, Harden, Beverley
At the beginning of the first quarter, the Rockets started from the inside. Motiejunas beat Green twice in a row to score. Ariza also made a layup, but then Thompson hit a three-pointer and Green made a tip-in. The Warriors fell behind 5-6.
After that, the Rockets made frequent mistakes, and the Warriors opened up the score with an 8-0 climax. Later in the quarter, Iguodala hit three consecutive three-pointers, once widening the point difference to 10 points. However, Josh Smith made a three-pointer.
After entering the net, Harden also found the offensive feeling. In addition to scoring the throw, he could also send a wonderful pass to Capela. Iguodala hit another three-pointer, and the Warriors still led by 9 points. Looking back, the Rockets launched "
"Slash and slash tactics" and quickly achieved results. Josh and Ariza hit consecutive three-pointers. At the end of the single quarter, the Rockets were temporarily behind 30-33.
The two sides fell into a tug-of-war in the second quarter. Iguodala continued his hot touch in the first quarter and hit another three-pointer. Klay Thompson took over the offense and scored consecutive points. However, on the Rockets' side, Beverley and Beasley scored consecutively, and the visiting team again
To close the point difference. In the middle and later stages of this quarter, Harden received his third foul and was forced to sit on the bench. The Warriors seized the opportunity. Thompson made free throws and scored consecutive three-pointers, widening the point difference to 9
Motel made a wonderful pass and Howard succeeded in an alley-oop dunk, but before halftime, the Rockets' mistakes began to increase again. The Warriors scored 6 points in a row, and the point difference returned to double digits. Harden relied on free throws to score 5 points in a row.
Looking back, Livingston succeeded in an alley-oop dunk. At the end of the half, the Rockets were 8 points behind 58-66.
After changing sides, the Rockets performed very tenaciously. Although Livingston's successful turn-over jumper once helped the Warriors lead by 12 points, the Rockets relied on Howard's inside attack to close the gap. During this period, the Magic and Den combination connected twice, and it was even more direct.
It broke through the Warriors' defense. It's just a pity that the Rockets still have many loopholes in the defense. Thompson cut inside and received a pass from Iguodala for a layup. The Warriors still led by 6 points. Harden made a pass to Terry for a three-pointer.
After entering the net, he hit another three-pointer to close the gap, but Speights also hit a three-pointer. After three quarters, the Warriors continued to lead 86-79.
In the last quarter, Terry made jump shots and consecutive free throws, and the Rockets once closed the point difference to 3 points. But then they continued to make defensive mistakes. Barnes and Thompson succeeded in free throws successively, and the point difference returned to double digits. In this quarter, they continued to make free throws.
In the middle, Howard suffered setbacks on both offense and defense. During the offense, he encountered a big block from Bogut. On defense, he received two fouls in succession and left the game with 6 fouls. After that, due to being too far behind, the Rockets chased points.
The meaning was no longer significant. In the end, after the whole game was played, the Rockets lost to the Warriors again 106-115, trailing 0-2 with a total score.
For the Rockets, Harden scored 28 points and 11 assists, but also committed 5 turnovers. Howard had 12 points and 10 rebounds. He fouled out with 6 fouls at the end of the game. Beverley scored 13 points and substitute Terry scored 13 points.
For the Warriors, Klay Thompson played 37 minutes, made 8 of 20 shots, scored 34 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds, and made 15 of 16 free throws. Data shows that 16 free throw attempts and 15 free throw attempts both set a new record for Thompson.
Career record. In the previous playoffs, Thompson hit a maximum of 8 free throws in a single game and a maximum of 10 free throws in the regular season. In addition, his 34 points also tied Thompson's personal playoff scoring record in a single game.
Iguodala scored 18 points and made 4 of 6 three-pointers. Data shows that the four three-pointers also tied AI's record for three-pointers in a single game during the playoffs when he played for the Warriors. He had previously made 4 of 6 three-pointers in June 2015.
He made four three-pointers in the Finals against the Cavaliers on the 12th. In addition, Iguodala made five three-pointers in the playoffs while playing for the Nuggets.
Among other players, Bogut had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks, Livingston had 16 points, and Draymond Green had 12 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists.
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On April 21, the Rockets hosted Game 3 of the series against the Warriors at home, and Curry continued to be absent from this game.
In the first quarter, the Rockets changed from the sluggishness of the previous two games. The whole team was full of momentum. Beverley hit the net with a three-pointer, Howard and Motel made free throws. The home team started 6-2. After that, the Rockets became more courageous as they fought. In the middle of this quarter, as
Harden hit the net with a three-pointer, Ariza dunked, and Houston's lead reached double digits. On the Warriors side, the team was in an extremely sluggish state. They didn't even make a three-pointer in a single quarter. Harden made a fadeaway jumper and tipped the ball in.
After consecutive hits, after a single quarter, the Rockets temporarily led 31-18.
In the second quarter, the Warriors replaced Speights in an attempt to open up the offensive space. This move also had some effect. Speights hit three consecutive three-pointers, and the Warriors once chased the point difference to single digits. After that, the two sides started to compete.
In the battle, Livingston, Barnes and others on the Warriors' side scored consecutively, but looking back, Ariza and Beasley succeeded in attacking successively. Terry also found his touch and hit two three-pointers in a row. The Rockets closed the gap.
The score increased to 15 points. After that, the Rockets' efficiency declined, and Howard was dissatisfied with Bogut's excessive defensive actions and received a technical foul. The Warriors took the opportunity to shorten the score. Iguodala and Speights made free throws successively, and then
Speights hit the net with another three-pointer. At the end of the half, the Rockets temporarily led 55-48.
After changing sides, Motel hit the net with a three-pointer, and the point difference returned to double digits. After that, the two sides fell into a fierce tug-of-war. Harden made a strong outside shot and scored 3+1, and succeeded in a layup, scoring 6 consecutive points. But
On the Warriors' side, Thompson and Livingston scored consecutive points, trying to hold on to the score. In the latter part of this quarter, the Rockets' attack efficiency dropped. Speights made two sneak attacks at the basket. After three quarters, the Rockets only led the Warriors 78-72.
6 points.
In the final quarter, Livingston succeeded in a single fadeaway jumper, and the Warriors were only 1 point behind. At the critical moment, Harden hit a three-pointer and made a foul free throw, helping the Rockets stabilize the situation. Motel hit a three-pointer, and the Rockets re-established 8 points.
The lead. But then Green succeeded in a breakthrough dunk, and the Warriors resorted to cutting Huo's tactics, which paid off. Iguodala hit a three-pointer, and the Rockets were only 1 point behind. Entering the last 1 minute and 30 seconds of the game, the scores of the two sides
The lead alternated. The Rockets made a service error with 13 seconds left, allowing the Warriors to succeed in a fast break layup. Seeing that the game was about to be lost, Harden stepped forward. When the Rockets had no timeout, he dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and
Confidently hit a step-back jumper, the game-winner in 2.7 seconds! Also with this shot, the Rockets narrowly defeated the Warriors 97-96, rewriting the total score of the series to 1-2.
For the Rockets, Harden had 35 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds, Howard had 13 points and 13 rebounds, Motiejunas had 14 points and 13 rebounds, Beverley had 10 points, and substitute Beasley had 12 points.
For the Warriors, Livingston had 16 points and 5 rebounds, Klay Thompson had 17 points and 8 rebounds, and Draymond Green had 9 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Substitute Speights scored 22 points.
Data shows that 22 points also set a new record for Speights' single-game scoring record in the playoffs. In addition, three three-pointers were also a single-game record for Speights in the playoffs.
