Kevin Durant, Warriors cruise past ice-cold Rockets: Takeaways
Durant dropped 32 and Houston shot 7-for-35 from deep
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3 min read
The Golden State Warriors rolled past the ice-cold Houston Rockets on Friday, earning a 125-108 win and improving to 37-6.
Unlike the first time these two teams met, the Rockets never found their flow from 3-point range, and the Warriors pulled away with a familiar third-quarter run. Kevin Durant finished with a game-high 32 points on 12-for-19 shooting, seven assists and four rebounds, while Stephen Curry had 24 points on 8-for-18 shooting and seven assists.
Takeaways:
Golden State's defense is for real
Two moments in the fourth quarter stuck out. The first was Durant rejecting an Eric Gordon 3-pointer when the Warriors were comfortably ahead by 16 points. The second was Gordon settling for a sort of awkward midrange jumper a few minutes later. The Rockets generally shun such shots, but it was the only option he could go to because of Golden State's swarming defense.
Gordon in particular had a horrible offensive night -- he had six points on 2-for-14 shooting -- but the whole Houston team had a much tougher time than usual. The Rockets have the third-best offense in the league, but they only shot 44.8 percent and went 7-for-35 (20 percent) from deep.
Golden State held MVP candidate James Harden to 17 points on 6-for-13 shooting, 11 assists, seven rebounds and seven turnovers. He still got into the paint and put pressure on the defense, but the Warriors did an excellent job of not fouling him, making him give up the ball and recovering to shooters. Harden only scored two points in the second half.
Houston is not quite healthy
As great as Golden State was defensively, it didn't see the Rockets at their peak. Ryan Anderson started but only played nine minutes because he's still recovering from the flu. He has been one of their most dangerous weapons, and when he's not on the floor the offense and spacing isn't quite the same.
I wonder, too, if Gordon is fully himself. He sprained his toe earlier this month and missed two games, and he has been inconsistent since then. He looked frustrated at times, and he didn't have a field goal until the fourth quarter.
In the postgame interview on ESPN, Durant said that the Warriors did a good job of running people off the 3-point line. That's true, but it's a lot harder to do that when Anderson and Gordon are positioned a few feet behind the line and in rhythm.
It's time to give Zaza some credit
This was a fast-paced game, and Houston played Montrezl Harrell and Clint Capela, two fantastic athletes and energy guys, at center. On the surface, this is not the ideal environment for the slow-footed, ground-bound Zaza Pachulia. Pachulia, though, has been playing against longer and more explosive players for years, and he wound up with 10 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals in 20 solid minutes.
As always, Pachulia set good screens for Golden State's guards. He also played smart pick-and-roll defense against one of the most nightmarish pick-and-roll teams in the NBA. While he has made headlines lately for getting a ridiculous amount of MVP votes and starting a feud with Russell Westbrook, it's also worth noting how he quietly helps the Warriors every night. It took him a bit of time to develop chemistry with his new team and he still struggles to finish around the basket, but he is dependable when it comes to the little things that coaches and teammates appreciate.
Another assist streak
Golden State had 30 assists on its 47 field goals, and it has now reached that mark four times in a row and 30 times on the season. How absurd is that? No other team has more than eight 30-assist games this season, per Warriors PR.
Curry passes Gordon
Going into the game, Gordon was the league leader in 3-point makes this season -- he had gone 160-for-397 to Curry's 158-for-398. Curry went 5-for-11 and Gordon went 0-for-7, so Curry is now ahead of Gordon in terms of both makes and 3-point percentage.
