Warriors’ defense stifles No. 2 seed Rockets in NBA playoff-opening win

Steve Kerr s simple gameplan boils down to one point of faith If it s a halfcourt match I really think our defense can get it done this series the Warriors coach reported Sunday night The Warriors backed up Kerr s well-earned confidence by holding the higher-seeded homecourt Houston Rockets to their lowest scoring output of the season in a - win in Contest of what is shaping up to be a bruising first-round Western Conference playoff matchup The Rockets rebounding edge allowed them to take more shots and they still couldn t match the Warriors scoring output thanks to a Golden State defense that held them to shooting from the field and only six -pointers on attempts I think overall we just flew around stated Draymond Green named one of three finalists for the NBA s Defensive Competitor of the Year award earlier in the day We didn t give up any easy looks We followed our defensive gameplan Just make them take tough shots The Rockets aggressive often literally hands-on approach to guarding Stephen Curry garnered attention after they held him to points in their final regular season meeting but it was the Warriors physicality that caught Houston coach Ime Udoka s attention With it being the first postseason meeting for Alperen Sengun Jalen Green Amen Thompson and various others on the Rockets young roster Udoka declared he didn t believe the moment got to them but I would say the Warriors physicality at times just going after guys Segun was the only Rocket in double figures until midway through the fourth quarter and finished with points the only Houston sportsman with more than but even he acknowledged afterward that I think we were ready I will say I think we were nervous a little bit Green who averaged points per encounter during the regular season was held to on -of- shooting while playoff veteran Fred VanVleet went -of- from the field and -of- from distance Jabari Smith Jr who scored points off the bench noted it wasn t just a poor shooting night Our spacing was a little thrown off tonight he explained They were crowding the paint a lot on us We ve just got to figure out procedures to counteract that They were packing the paint trapping Jalen and Fred kind of funneling everything They were trying to make us make the extra pass and we weren t making it tonight The Rockets ranked in the bottom third of the NBA in -point attempts in the regular season and Kerr joked that it felt like out there with their physical inside-the-arc style of play They averaged points per event th-most in the NBA but earned the No seed with their defense They rough you up they grab they hold Green explained They re an extremely physical squad and you have to give them credit The Rockets defense ranked seventh in the NBA over games The Warriors has been the best since Jimmy Butler III arrived Green was inquired if the win was any more satisfying given the circumstances Related Articles Steph Curry Jimmy Butler hold off scrappy Rockets as Warriors win Battle Warriors Draymond Green among three finalists for NBA s Defensive Competitor of the Year Warriors stay on message to open playoff series vs Rockets NorCal native named award finalist Kurtenbach National Wrestling Association The Rockets playoff plan is clear Maul Steph Curry Will home-court advantage matter in Warriors Rockets series Here s what the numbers say We just want to win the battle he revealed We understand that in order to win you have to defend at a high level They re the No seed because they defend at a very high level But overall Steph Curry usually finds a way Curry finished with points Butler added and the Warriors now hold homecourt advantage They knew the Rockets were going to get their offensive rebounds and they did of them but they could minimize their possession advantage by playing clean basketball Houston outrebounded the Warriors by took more attempts from the field and six extra shots from the foul line but also turned the ball over times to the Warriors Our defense is big time and we re going to count on that Kerr reported We need to recognize that we don t need to take chances in this series We need to be clean in our execution and transition We don t need to dribble through traffic We don t need to throw lob passes to try to get a dunk We ve got to be rock solid