There’s an old saying about NBA playoff competitions: “The series doesn’t start until someone loses a home game.”
Never has that been less true than in the Golden State-Houston first-round series.
Houston “held serve” by winning its first home game Thursday night, so by the old axiom, everything is going according to plan. In reality, this series changed gears when the ball rolled off Draymond Green’s foot and out of bounds with one second left.
The difference, of course, is Steph Curry.
If the Warriors had won Game 3, which they came within an eyelash of doing despite a bucketload of things they surely regret, the series would be over and Game 4 would provide an opportunity to give Curry some minutes to get a rhythm for the next series. Instead, if Curry does play in Game 4, it will be against an encouraged Rocket team that will be playing not to extend the series to five games, but to even the series and force a sixth game back in Houston that, theoretically at least, could be a knockout game and one of the biggest upsets in NBA playoff history.
The Warriors, on the other hand, are suddenly in scramble mode, having seen that if they play poorly the Rockets can beat them. This is something many observers had doubted. Given the way the Warriors played for most of Game 3, Golden State’s players probably ranked among those doubters.
For them, losing one game in Houston — which means they’ll have to play a Game 5 in Oakland — isn’t that big a deal. They’re flying back to Oakland Sunday after the game anyway. Losing a second game in Houston requires another 3.5-hour flight for a Game 6, which is not in the itinerary they drew up prior to the start of this series.
Even with the loss, there’s no reason for the Warriors or their fans to panic, although the level of fan angst has hit critical mass after each of the team’s (now) 10 losses this season. Back in January, I wrote a piece in this space titled, “What Does it Take to Beat the Warriors?” It was, admittedly, a little tongue-in-cheek, as the team had lost only three games at that point, but it’s still interesting to look at.
- Catch them on the road
Check - Make sure at least one of their starters is out
Check - Catch them on a bad shooting night
Check
The box score is full of other problems for the Warriors, including being out-rebounded 52-43 overall and 16-8 on the offensive glass, leading to a 16-5 edge in second-chance points for the Rockets.
The bottom line, however, is that with all of that going poorly for the Warriors, particularly bad nights from both Klay Thompson (who missed all seven 3-pointers) and Draymond Green (7 turnovers, including that one on the game’s last play), plus giving up 35 points to an energized and focused James Harden, they still led with four seconds to go, and had a chance to win at the buzzer. On the road.
So forgive the Rockets if they don’t feel this game really means they can still win this series. For these events to replicate themselves three more times is virtually impossible, if for no other reason than there are only two games remaining in Houston (at most).
The Warriors are still winning this series, but how Steph Curry practices before Game 4 and whether he plays now take on much more meaning for the Warriors. This series was supposed to be a coronation, a warm-up act for the ones to come. Instead, it’s turned into a bit of a dogfight, and we won’t know until it’s all over what effect Game 3 has had on the Warriors’ quest for the NBA championship.
