Rockets 106, Warriors 110 (Warriors lead 1-0)
A lot can change in six and a half minutes of a basketball game. Leave it to the Golden State Warriors to put any doubters of that fact to rest.
The second quarter of last night’s Western Conference Finals’ Game 1 witnessed a sharp shift in momentum, transferring the upper hand from the visiting Rockets to the home team Dubs all in a matter of minutes. Houston shot around 60 percent from the field and built up a 16-point lead halfway through the second quarter before Golden State exploded for a 25-6 run to end the first half. Shaun Livingston led the charge with 10 off the bench and would finish the game with 18 points, 7 boards and 3 assists.
Stephen Curry missed a couple jumpers near the end of the run (maybe simply to keep things interesting?) that would’ve definitely made the roof of the Roaracle blow off had they gone in…but he hit the one with the most appeal. A buzzer-beater, which sank into the net as the red light on the backboard lit up.
Beaut.
The second half saw a lot of back and forth between the last two standing in the West. The game was all tied up at 97 with 5:28 of clock left. Then Harrison Barnes, who scored 7 of his 14 points in the final period, along with the MVP took the Warriors on an 11-0 run. The Rockets then said—ay, we can do that too!—and scored 9 straight capped by a Trevor Ariza (20 points) 3-pointer to come within 2. But Curry (34 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) put the game away with a couple of free throws, and the League-leading Golden State Warriors took a 1-0 lead over James Harden (28 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists) and the Rockets.
Just as a lot can change in six and a half minutes of a basketball game, a lot can change between the first and second meetings of the Western Conference Finals. Game 2 is set for tomorrow night at 9 P.M. EST. Rejoice at the early start, my fellow East Coasters—we can witness each changing minute without losing too many zzz!
