Rockets fall to the Warriors 95-85 in Game 1

The Houston Rockets lost to the Golden State Warriors, 95-85, in their first playoff game since 2020. Alperen Şengün, the team’s only all-star, stood out with a strong performance, scoring 26 points, grabbing 9 rebounds, and recording 3 steals in his playoff debut.

One of the main reasons that contributed to the Rockets’ loss was the lack of contribution from Şengün’s teammates. The Rockets leading scorer during the regular season, Jalen Green, who averaged 21 points, finished his first playoff game with only 7 points on 3-of-15 shooting in 30 minutes of action.

Despite Green’s lackluster performance, he’s already put this performance behind him and is ready for Game 2.

“Yeah, I got to be better,” Green said. “It was my first (playoff) game, I’m not too worried about it. We got a chance to shake back and improve from the game. So, now I got a taste of what it was, now I just got to answer back.”

His backcourt mate and NBA Champion Fred VanVleet finished with 10 points on  4-of-19 shooting. Despite his efforts, he said the plan is to help Green get better looks against the Warriors’ defense.

“He got the whole kitchen sink thrown at him,” VanVleet said of Green. “Their whole game plan was to take him out the game…We’ve got to do a better job of getting him to his spots.” 

Another big problem the Rockets faced in Game 1 was containing Steph Curry. The last time these two teams played, Curry finished with only 3 points, which was accredited to the defense played by the Rockets’ young athletic star Amen Thompson. Things were a tad bit different Sunday night in the Toyota Center. In a bounce-back game, Curry cooked the Rockets with 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting, including 5 three-pointers.

The Warriors went up 23 points, but the Rockets did make an effort to come back and they cut the deficit to 72-68 with 8:49 to play. But it ultimately was too much Jimmy Butler and too much Curry. Every time the Warriors needed a bucket, either Curry made a remarkable three-pointer or Butler made a clutch basket. In Butler’s first official playoff game for the Warriors, he finished with 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists, with six of his points coming in the final 1:43 to put the game away.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr praised his newest addition to the team.

“He has that impact every game,” Kerr said on Butler. “He calms things down. He’s very confident. He’s very poised. He always believes we’re going to win. Jimmy is — he’s one of the best players in the league, and that’s what the best players in the league do. It’s not just about scoring or stats. It’s about settling the game down, having the presence and the nature to compete and win games like this.”

The Rockets will host the Warriors for Game 2 of the Western Conference Playoffs on Wednesday, April 23rd, in the Toyota Center. Tip-off is at 8:30 PM.