Warriors-Rockets series resembles old-school NBA war of attrition

Warriors-Rockets series resembles old-school NBA war of attrition originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

HOUSTON – The longer the Warriors and Houston Rockets duke it out in the first round of the NBA playoffs, the more this is going to turn into a war of attrition. After Wednesday night, each team has one battle won under their belt, with the Warriors taking Game 1 and the Rockets winning Game 2 wire to wire with a final score of 109-94.

Desperation was felt from the start. The Rockets weren’t going to let the Warriors board a flight back home comfortably. That strategy reached the lengths of Warriors star Jimmy Butler’s night ending after eight minutes, limping back to the locker room with what was deemed a pelvis contusion from a frightening fall to the hardwood featuring him and Rockets forward Amen Thompson.

No technical fouls or flagrant fouls were called Sunday in Game 1. That wasn’t the case two nights later. There were three technical fouls whistled on both teams, plus a flagrant foul on Rockets guard Jalen Green in the fourth quarter. None were from Butler’s injury.

Though no punches were thrown, it only became clearer what kind of series we’re in for.

“It’s a f–kin’ war now,” one person within the Warriors’ locker room said to NBC Sports Bay Area. “All we can do is fight back.”

Pure fight could be the solution. The Warriors will get their rest Wednesday night, fly home Thursday and learn from the film before Friday’s practice ahead of Saturday’s Game 3 at Chase Center. They’re going to have to find a way to combat the Rockets’ physicality. Somehow, some way.

If the beginning of the playoffs between two franchises who shared a long history of bad blood under the bright lights was a rock fight, Rockets coach Ime Udoka must have wanted boulders thrown on the Toyota Center court in Game 2.

Steve Kerr looked furious throughout the course of the game with how his players, particularly Steph Curry, were being defended. He could be seen yelling about how Curry keeps getting held but yet the referees keep letting it go. An early timeout wasn’t so much a moment to huddle his team and slow the Rockets’ momentum.

It was an opportunity to get everything off his chest to the officiating crew, loud and without any confusion over how he felt. His podium availability after didn’t match that intensity. He has had much more lively press conferences over the course of the season, instead giving credit to the Rockets for a win in which they set a tone and never trailed once.

“Houston played great,” Kerr said. “They were really physical just like we expected. They came out with amazing force defensively.”

In response, the Warriors looked like the older team that couldn’t find a second gear. Losing a star for the majority of the game will do that. So does having Brandin Podziemski, who was fantastic in Game 1 as a plus-17, try to battle through an illness that had him require an IV at halftime and go scoreless on five shots in just 14 minutes played.

Draymond Green unsurprisingly was under the spotlight of physicality and skirmishes. He also wasn’t one to escalate anything despite being called for a tech midway through the fourth quarter when he got tangled for a second with Rockets center Alperen Şengün and unsuccessfully pleaded his case to referee David Guthrie. His face-to-face fourth quarter interaction with Fred VanVleet only grew once everybody else joined in.

“I thought it was a little less physical than Game 1,” Green said.

Those words could be nothing more than mind games from Green. Needing a long pause to think it through, Curry also agreed with his longtime teammate’s assessment.

“I mean, actually, I might agree with that,” Curry said. “There was just a couple crashes that happened out there. We know what their MO is and what they’re trying to do. Use their size and athleticism, size advantage and at times try to bully us. We had a pretty good fight in both games.”

The Warriors also were held to under 100 points in both games. They went 2-13 when scoring 99 points or under in the regular season, and one of those wins ironically was against the Rockets on Dec. 5 when they outlasted them 99-93 without Curry. The other was when the Warriors beat the New York Knicks 97-94 on March 15.

Weirdly enough, reaching the century mark might be the magic number for these two teams. They have faced each other seven times now and the Warriors have failed to score 100 points in five games.

Between the regular season and playoffs, the Warriors are 2–3 in games they can’t crack 100 points against the long, young, athletic and aggressive Rockets.

“How many times have they been held under 100?” Curry asked. “That’s just the style of this matchup. I don’t care what the score is as long as we get more points. We got to get back to that.”

That number is four. The Warriors have kept the Rockets to under 100 points in four of their seven matchups, and Golden State has gone 3-1 in said games. Maybe that is the magic number. But the Warriors also have been held to under 23 assists in four games, seven off their typical goal of at least 30.

The last man standing usually isn’t suited for a team led by three players 35 years old and up, and now one of them can only hope to recover quick enough to play this weekend. Surviving and advancing is what Curry and Green have been able to hang their hats for a long, long time. Adding Butler to the mix grows their chances exponentially.

Winning a war of attrition will take guts to turn to glory for Golden State, leaving style points at the door. The Warriors didn’t lack fight in their loss, and now it’s up to them to figuratively punch their way back to a win back at home with the series all tied up.

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Warriors-Rockets series resembles old-school NBA war of attrition

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