In some ways, it’s better that the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets are meeting earlier in the playoffs this year, rather than having to wait for the Conference Finals. Why is this happening? Well, because neither team had an exceptional regular season. Though the Warriors did finish with the top seed, it was a bumpy road; and the Rockets fumbled into the fourth seed after battling through early injuries. Unfortunately, Golden State’s failure to close out the Los Angeles Clippers was a costly slip up. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson both rolled their ankles Friday night — sending the already short-handed Warriors into their biggest battle of the season at less than full strength. GAME DETAILS: Who: Golden State Warriors vs Houston Rockets (Series tied 0-0) Where: Oracle Arena — Oakland, CA When, Sunday, April 28th; 12:30pm Watch: ABC Blog Buddy: The Dream Shake Ankles away By far the biggest question heading into game one of the Western conference semifinals is about those ankles. Here’s the play where Curry got hurt — note that both Thompson’s and Curry’s ankles are completely rolled (where your ankle bone hits the floor), which can be one of the trickiest types to gauge because of the bruising combined with the sprain. Currently, both are listed as questionable. Thompson’s ankle is reportedly more concerning. Thompson, who plays a significant role in the team’s pick and roll defense, would be sorely missed. The bigger concern situation is if he decides to go at something less than 100%, ends up being a detriment, and then further exacerbates the injury — or at a minimum slows the healing. Via Marcus Thomson of The Athletic: With only about a day and a half between the game six win over the Clippers and game one against the Rockets, this is a tight timeline. But as Marcus Thompson has said: Of course, this is Klay Thompson we’re talking about. He might just let Rocco lick it a few times, sunbathe it a bit and play anyway. Whenever it seems there is no way Thompson can play — such as when J.R. Smith crashed into his knee in Game 2 of the Finals last year — he ends up back on the court. This is, sadly, a trend. Unfortunately/fortunately, while we had to hear the noises from Houston decrying the annual breakdown of Chris Paul’s tenuous relationship with his hamstrings for a solid year, no one will care much that the Warriors are without two starting Centers, and both of our starting guards are limping into this series. Last 8 Warriors-Rockets games: 3/13: No Durant 2/23: No Harden 1/3: No CP3 11/15: No Curry WCF G7: No CP3 or Iguodala WCF G6: No CP3 or Iguodala WCF G5: No Iguodala WCF G4: No Iguodala It’s been a while since we’ve seen these teams get to face each other healthy. — Brady Klopfer (@BradyKlopferNBA) April 27, 2019 The significant statistics This is a tough one to evaluate. The Warriors have spent 70 percent of the season playing at 70 percent and the Rockets entire game plan is designed around spamming three pointers and isolations. Those plays work (Harden’s drives are converted into points and the threes fall for the Rockets) and this could easily be the toughest team the Warriors have faced in the Kerr era. The Utah Jazz held Harden to just .529 TS%, well below his season average of .616. It was something of a gimmick defense, but expect the Warriors to take note of how uncomfortable Harden was when shaded to deter him from going to his dominant left hand. For Golden State, it will once again come down to their defense. Offensively, the team has been thrumming. Like a good punk rock song, it’s not that they’re using every single octave, but the “four chords and the truth” basketball equivalent of Curry and Kevin Durant has looked nearly unstoppable. Via NBA.com, Durant is the leading scorer in the playoffs, at 35 points per game. Even better, he’s done so on a murderous .719 TS%. Curry isn’t far behind in either category with 24.7 points per game on an equally impressive .710 TS%. Even better, the two play as well together as any other two players in the league. As Steph Curry told The Athletic, the inclusion of Kevin Durant has allowed the Warriors to accept a changing NBA defensive landscape — rather than wilting though, they’ve bent. Supple like the reeds, rather than rigid: “The game is entirely different,” Curry said, lifting up his head to remove the shadow from his eyes. “People defend us differently. You’re going to adjust with it or you’re going to fight it and the ego is going to chip in and say, ‘you need to get your 25 shots no matter what.’ I have the same intent and focus and energy — but the way it looks, the way it looks on the stat sheet, all that stuff is entirely different.” The Rockets are a significantly better defensive team, but PJ Tucker can’t be everywhere. And with Trevor Ariza gone, it will be interesting to see how well the Rockets can contain our superstars. As old friend of the blog, Patrick Murray wrote — the lessons from last year’s playoffs is that defense, not offense, could well be the deciding factor: After splitting the first games in Houston, Golden State put the clamps on from Game Three onwards. The Rockets totalled 85, 95, 94, 86, and 92 points in the final five games of that series. The real reason the Rockets took the Warriors to seven games was because they held the Warriors to lower point totals in two of those games. It was the Rockets defense, not their offense, that kept them in that series. The prediction As much as it pains me, I simply cannot predict a sweep in good faith. The Rockets are too good, the Warriors to unsteady. Complicating matters further, the Warriors are yet again banged up. Without our two main starting centers, they’re already entering at less than full strength, toss in a couple of bum ankles... The loss of DeMarcus Cousins in particular hurts, since he was a player that the Rockets couldn’t really counter with their roster. Anyways: Warriors in 7. A basic six game Warriors series win, with an extra game thrown in to account for the inertia of a wobbly season. In the end though, the champs have the talent and experience.<doc-sep>The Warriors protected their home floor and now take a 2-0 series lead to Houston. The Golden State Warriors took Game 1 in this series in a contest that went down to the last few possessions. Game 2 was no different as the Rockets kept fighting back from a huge early deficit. As the series shifts to Houston, the Warriors hold a strong 2-0 series lead. Final: Warriors 115, Rockets 109 All five Warriors starters scored in double figures, led by reigning two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant. KD (27 PTS, 5 REB) led the way in the Bay as the @warriors take a 2-0 lead! 😤#StrengthInNumbers pic.twitter.com/I8IEs5uUNw - NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 1, 2019 The Rockets, eventually, lost only by six points but they were down early and were playing catch-up for most of the game. Their 12 first half turnovers had a lot to do with that, leading to Warriors 20 first-half points. The Warriors' extra shot attempts also came from beating the Rockets on the offensive glass 18-10. Despite needing to go to the locker rooms in the first quarter, both Stephen Curry and James Harden finished with good games. Both played through the pain but it would be interesting to see whether it would affect their availability for Game 3. However, given the three days rest in between, both former MVP's should be fine. End of third quarter: Warriors 82, Rockets 75 The Rockets are not out of this one. They continue to battle by pulling the lead down to 7, courtesy of an 8-0 run to end the period. Double technicals were handed out to Green and Nene at the end of the third quarter. That's Green's fourth this postseason. Halftime: Warriors 58, Rockets 49 Both teams scored 29 in the second quarter. More importantly, for the Rockets, James Harden returned to the court and scored all of his 12 first-half points upon returning in the second quarter. The story so far has been the Rockets' 12 turnovers and 20 points they have allowed the Warriors to score off them. The Warriors have also doubled up the Rockets in paint scoring 28-14. Klay (13 PTS) left his mark on the first half as the Warriors lead the Rockets! 💦#StrengthInNumbers#NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/Uqn0n7V4eN - NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 1, 2019 While the Warriors have four of their five starters in double figures - Curry (10), Thompson (13), Durant (12) and Iguodala (10) - the Rockets have only James Harden (12) and Austin Rivers (11). As a team, the Rockets are shooting 10-of-22 from beyond the 3-point line (45.3%) while the Warriors have only made 4 on 16 attempts (25.0%). End of first quarter: Warriors 29, Rockets 20 Both Stephen Curry and James Harden spend some time in the locker room after getting injured. While Curry returned after what was reportedly a dislocated left middle finger . Meanwhile, about Harden: Rockets told me Harden has a laceration on his left eye lid. Is back out on bench. Going to see how he feels and could potentially play again soon. @HoustonRockets @NBAonTNT - Allie LaForce (@ALaForce) May 1, 2019 After the first 12 minutes the Warriors hold a 9-point lead: The @warriors are clicking early at Oracle to lead 29-20 after the first 12 minutes of action! 👌#DubNation | #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/e4z5idEptz - NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 1, 2019 Pregame Both teams are tipping off Game 2 with the same starting lineups . The Warriors start with the Hamptons 5: #DubNation, it's time to meet and greet tonight's starting 5⃣ pic.twitter.com/LnZHzJ6aaZ - Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 1, 2019 The Houston Rockets starters are the same as Game 1 - James Harden, Chris Paul, PJ Tucker, Clint Capela, and Eric Gordon.<doc-sep>OAKLAND, Calif. — The Greatest Second Round in N.B.A. Playoff History, as one know-it-all scribe had the temerity to describe it last week, did not get off to the greatest start. Yet things thankfully picked up on Tuesday night, when two of the game’s biggest stars — Stephen Curry and James Harden — injected some much-needed nobility into the proceedings by playing through their gnarly injuries in the Golden State Warriors’ 115-109 Game 2 triumph over the Houston Rockets. It was Curry and especially the under-fire Harden, more than anyone, who helped nudge the league’s marquee series away from a suffocating, dispiriting debate about how the game is officiated when the Warriors and the Rockets meet. Curry shrugged off a nasty-looking dislocated middle finger on his nonshooting hand, which he sustained in the opening quarter, and finished with 20 points despite his 3-for-13 struggles from 3-point range. Harden, meanwhile, was left with a scary laceration on his left eyelid and two bloodshot eyes after taking an inadvertent rake to the face from Draymond Green — but he amassed a team-high 29 points through blurry vision despite squinting and wincing for the rest of the evening.<doc-sep>
The second-round series between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets has already had plenty of drama, and it continued in the first half of Game 2, when both Stephen Curry and James Harden suffered minor injuries. While both players ultimately returned to the game, it was the Rockets who made the late charge to put themselves in a position to steal home-court advantage in this best-of-seven series. However, in the end, it wasn't enough as the defending champions held on for a 115-109 victory. With the series shifting from Oakland to Houston for Game 3, there will be plenty of pressure on both sides to ensure that they pick up the next win in this series in hopes of punching their ticket to the Western Conference finals. CBS Sports will be with you throughout Game 2 between the Warriors and Rockets. If you are unable to view the live application below, please click here. If you missed anything from tonight's game, get caught up here. Here's everything you need to know about Warriors vs. Rockets Game 2 Balanced scoring from both sides The Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors have two of the most talented rosters in the NBA and they put that on display on Tuesday night as the title contenders received big-time performances from their best players. In the end, there were 11 players in total who scored in double figures, all of the starters on each team eclipsed the 10-point plateau, with James Harden and Kevin Durant each recording 29 points for their respective side. Rockets, Warriors take advantage of 3-point line After a less than spectacular effort from beyond the arc in Game 1, the Rockets and Warriors each converted on more than 10 attempts from the three-point line in Tuesday night's showdown in Oakland as the two sides combined for 28 makes from the perimeter in the game itself. Taking care of the basketball was paramount in the end Both of these teams are more than capable of converting on the long ball, as we have seen throughout the year, but what mattered the most on Tuesday night was their ability to take care of the basketball and, in the end, it was the team that turned it over the least (12 for the Warriors compared to 17 for the Rockets) which came out on top. How to watch Game 3