West Conf. Finals - Game 4: Houston Rockets 95-92 Golden State Warriors - 5 Talking Points
The Houston Rockets proved their credentials as a serious challenger to Golden State's reigning champion status with a clutch performance to bag Game 4 and take back homecourt advantage. In a game when 5 of the 6 All-Stars stepped up big time for their respective teams (we're looking at you, Klay), the Rockets relied on a severely shortened 7-man rotation to keep pace with the Dubs and held their nerve when it mattered most to take home their W.
The Golden State Warriors, on their part, were unable to execute their offense nearly as well as they normally do. They had a season-low 14 assists as a team and turned it over more than they dimed it for the first time this season with 16 turnovers. They also suffered from foul trouble and they clearly missed ace defender Andre Iguodala, who was ruled out with a knee contusion.
It was a happening game with several lead changes, and the back-and-forth was most apparent in the 4th quarter. There were a number of talking points from the game, and we take you through the 5 most important ones as follows:
#5 The Warriors' hot start to the first quarter
Kevon Looney was an unsurprising feature in the team list for this game, as Steve Kerr sought to retain his defense's switching schemes by playing him at the 5.
All 5 Warriors got their name onto the scoresheet during the first stretch of the game when the Warriors ran out to a 12-0 lead to start the quarter. The Rockets' very first points of the game came with 6:42 remaining in the period - their worst start offensively to a postseason game.
At the start, the likes of Looney and Jordan Bell were able to defend effectively on switches, and they locked up the paint area to force some turnovers as Harden tried to get his pick-and-roll play going with Capela, who had a below-par outing this time around.
The Dubs shot 11-of-23 for the quarter, but these figures are marred by a couple of missed tip-ins by Jordan Bell and Kevon Looney - they shot better than 50% on their jump shots. They finished the quarter with a 28-19 lead, and things were looking good at this point.