Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry scored a game-high 31 points in a win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday in Houston. Photo by John G. Mabanglo/EPA-EFE
April 21 (UPI) — Stephen Curry scored a game-high 31 points and the Golden State Warriors overcame a major rebounding deficit to beat the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.
Curry made 12 of 19 shots, including five 3-pointers, in the 95-85 victory Sunday in Houston. Warriors forward Jimmy Butler chipped in 24 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals.
“Just the idea of what it was going to take to beat this particular team was just a grind-it-out type of performance that we had,” Curry said.
“Thankfully we got it done.”
The No. 7 Warriors outshot the second-seeded Rockets 47.4% to 39.1%. The Rockets made just 6 of 29 (20.7%) of their 3-point attempts, compared to the Warriors’ 12 of 32 (37.5%) clip.
The Rockets held a 52-36 edge in rebounding, with 22 offensive boards. The game featured just three lead changes and was tied once. The Warriors led by as many as 23 points. They were outscored 54-354 in the paint, but held a 16-4 edge in fast-break points.
“At times, their best offense is offensive rebounds, they are elite at it,” Warriors forward Draymond Green told reporters. “That’s something we expected. We did a decent job in the first half, but in the second half it was way out of control.
“We’ve gotta do a better job there, but that is their style of play. They rough you up, they grab, they hold, they crash the boards. They are an extremely physical team.”
The Rockets scored the first seven points of the night and carried a 21-18 lead into the second quarter. Curry and the Warriors then went on an 18-3 surge and never looked back. Curry scored 10 points in the quarter. The Warriors led 47-34 at halftime.
The Rockets out-rebounded the Warriors 16-7 in the third quarter. They used that rebounding advantage to outscore their foes 26-22 in the frame, but still trailed by nine to start the fourth quarter. The Warriors held a 26-25 scoring edge over the final 12 minutes of the victory.
Curry totaled six rebounds and three assists, in addition to his 31 points. Fellow Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski chipped in 14 points. Rockets center Alperen Sengun logged 26 points and nine rebounds in the loss.
The Rockets will host the Warriors in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series at 9:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday in Houston. The series will move to San Francisco on Saturday for Game 3 at Chase Center.
Earlier Sunday, the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder dismantled the No. 8 Memphis Grizzlies 131-80 in another Western Conference series opener on Sunday in Oklahoma City.
The Boston Celtics, the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, beat the No. 7 Orlando Magic 103-86 on Sunday in Boston. The top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers crushed the No. 8 Miami Heat 121-100 on Sunday in Cleveland.
The winner of the Warriors-Rockets series will face the No. 3 Los Angeles Lakers or No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round. Game 1 of the Lakers-Timberwolves series will tip off at 10 p.m. Tuesday in Los Angeles.