The Golden State Warriors certainly didn't play like a team in the middle of a Game 7 during the first half on Monday night. The Rockets out-hustled them, out-defended them and outscored them in a dominant 54-43 first half.

The final play perfectly summarized the first half as a whole. With 4.5 seconds left, Rockets guard Eric Gordon dribbled the ball the length of the floor, right past a couple of Warriors defenders, and made a difficult double-pump layup as the buzzer sounded.

Rule No. 1 of any fast break is to stop the ball, and Golden State clearly failed to do that. Nick Young was behind Gordon from the moment the ball was indounded, and it looked like his teammate Shaun Livingston set an accidental pick on him just after Gordon passed halfcourt.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr called the first quarter "one of the worst quarters of basketball we've ever played." Imagine what he told his team at halftime after the second quarter was even worse.