Let’s talk about greed, Dub Nation. Not the Gordon Gekko “greed is good” monologue that’s been memed to death, but the kind of basketball avarice that separates good playoff teams from championship DNA.
The Golden State Warriors just walked into Houston’s Toyota Center and ripped home court advantage out of the Rockets’ hands like they were snatching candy from, well, not a baby — Alperen Sengun is definitely a grown man who put up 26 and 9 — but maybe more like taking the aux cord from that friend who keeps playing their questionable music taste at the party.
Golden State Warriors at Houston Rockets
When: April 23rd, 2025 | 6:30 PM PT
TV: TNT, NBC Sports Bay Area
Radio: 95.7 The Game
Now Golden State has a chance to do something their franchise has repeatedly failed at: winning both opening road games of a playoff series. History tells us that Warriors teams who steal Game 1 on the road tend to get punched back in Game 2. That “We Believe” squad shocked Dirk’s Mavs in ‘07 only to take the L in the follow-up. The earliest iteration of the Splash Brothers took Game 1 from the Clippers in 2014 before dropping the sequel. And even the 2022 Dubs, dynasty in renaissance mode, stole the first game but couldn’t avoid the Game 2 road letdown against Ja Morant’s Grizzlies.
But this group, led by a Steph Curry who looks absolutely determined to remind everyone why 36-year-old legends shouldn’t be written off, has a chance to break that pattern.
The numbers from Game 1 paint a picture so beautiful to Warriors fans it could hang in a museum: Curry dropping an efficient 31 while Houston bricked threes (6-for-29, a ghastly 21%) like they were being paid by the miss. The Rockets’ 85-point offensive output was a showcase of Golden State’s defensive power, marking their lowest scoring performance since March 2021.
The basketball gods did throw Houston a bone, though, allowing them to absolutely bludgeon Golden State on the glass to the tune of a 52-36 rebounding advantage. That’s the kind of margin that typically leads SportsCenter highlights, not a double-digit loss.
So what happens in Game 2? The Warriors are 2.5-point underdogs despite having all the momentum because Vegas (and basic statistical regression) expects the Rockets’ shooters to remember how to, you know, shoot. Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet combined for a paltry 13 points in Game 1. VanVleet went 2-for-13 from deep, the kind of night that has players checking their shooting hand for invisible injuries.
But here’s why Warriors fans should be feeling the greed flowing through their veins: this is a team that has suddenly found its championship muscle memory again. While Houston was busy learning the harsh realities of playoff intensity, Golden State was casually implementing the “been there, won multiple championships there” gameplan.
If Rockets coach Ime Udoka wants to even this series, he’ll need to conjure offensive sets that don’t result in VanVleet launching contested threes while Curry smirks on the other end. The Warriors, meanwhile, have a chance to take the kind of series lead that feels less like a 2-0 advantage and more like a psychological Mount Everest for a young Rockets team to overcome.
Game 2 tips off at 9:30 p.m. ET tonight at the Toyota Center. The Warriors aren’t just playing to win; they’re playing to defy convention and set a new mark in their dynasty.
