Just as what the many pundits had predicted, the Golden State Warriors won Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Golden State beat the Houston Rockets 110-106 at the Oracle Arena, where the Warriors have a surreal 44-3 record for the season. But the Rockets hung in there with the Warriors, thanks mostly to James Harden’s superb performance.
After the outcome of the first game, various experts weighed in on how Game 2 would likely play out. Read on below for their analysis as we get set for the second game of this mouth-watering series.
We here at Top Bet also have our own take on what to expect in this game. Check out our predictions and preview for Game 2 here.
[sc:NBAArticles ]Experts Predictions for Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors Game 2
Bleacher Report
| Expert | Prediction |
|---|---|
| Dan Favale | Golden State 111-101 |
From Bleacher Report, featured columnist Dan Favale praised Golden State’s Shaun Livingston’s eruption. While Curry was in his usual MVP form (38 points, 6-for-11 shooting downtown), it was his backup that came out as the X-factor for Golden State.
[sc:NBA240banner ]Livingston played 29 minutes off the bench and scored a playoff career-high of 18 points, to go along with seven rebounds. In comparison: Livingston only averages five points and two rebounds in 17 minutes of action this postseason. His contributions for the rest of this series are pivotal for Golden State’s maximization of their bench’s already deep roster.
Looking ahead to Game 2, Favale notes that Golden State needs to start out strong instead of playing from behind. In Game 1, the Warriors trailed by as much as 16 points in the second quarter before they made the necessary adjustments to take the lead. Golden State shot 37.5 percent in the first quarter, before getting in their usual groove to shoot for 50 percent the rest of the game.
As for Houston, Favale stressed that the Rockets need to figure out how to guard the seemingly unguardable marksmen of Golden State. The Rockets allowed Golden State to take 42 uncontested shots from the field in Game 1. Curry himself had 13 of his 22 field goals go uncontested by Houston defenders.
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RantSports
| Expert | Prediction |
|---|---|
| Anthony Irwin | Golden State 111-104 |
Anthony Irwin of RantSports, meanwhile, was concerned about Klay Thompson’s decreased offensive production. Irwin believes that Thompson had to focus more on playing defense against Harden, rather than knocking down buckets and leave the scoring to the rest of his Warriors teammates.
Thompson finished with just 15 points in Game 1, and only made one out of his seven shots from beyond the arc. But Harden was in his own MVP groove in in the game, as he still finished the game with a near triple-double (28 points, 11 boards and nine assists, plus four steals).
Here’s what Thompson had to say after the game about defending Harden in Game 1: “I’m not getting discouraged when he makes shots; there’s a reason he’s runner up MVP.” If Harden continues to put up big numbers in the series, look for Thompson to start firing back on offense.
Irwin also took note of the matchup between starting centers Dwight Howard and Andrew Bogut. While Houston’s Howard is clearly the better of the two, it’s Bogut who has been more valuable to his team. The Warriors are 24-2 in games that Bogut played in.
Meanwhile, Howard is questionable for Game 2 after suffering an injury to his left knee in the first quarter. But the loss of Howard may not affect Houston’s defense as much as we would expect. Golden State’s offense relies more on perimeter shooting rather than getting points in the paint, and down in the post is where Howard’s defensive skills are more apparent.
Basketball Insiders
| Expert | Prediction |
|---|---|
| Jabari Davis | Golden State wins |
Lastly, Jabari Davis from Basketball Insiders noticed that Warriors head coach Steve Kerr did an outstanding job of getting the most out of his bench players. Kerr mixed up his team’s rotation to match the strength of Kevin McHale’s team selection for Houston.
A notable small-ball five-man lineup that the Warriors put out on the court consisted of Curry, Thompson, Livingston, Harrison Barnes, and Draymond Green at center. This set of Warriors players played 12 minutes together, and managed to outscore Houston by 15 points within that span.
Davis also wants to see more production coming from Houston’s role players like Jason Terry, Corey Brewer and Josh Smith. If these players step up and draw more Warriors defenders away from James Harden, the Rockets have a good chance of winning Game 2 in Oracle Arena before the series heads for Houston.
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