Loading...
The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets will play Game 2 of their Western Conference playoff series tomorrow night in Houston at the Toyota Center. The Warriors rode their stars to a low-scoring 95-85 victory over the Rockets in Game 1. The Rockets were very one-dimensional in the series opener and need to play much better if they want to compete with the Warriors through multiple games.
Let’s dive into this Game 2 matchup while recapping the series opener and making a Game 2 pick for tomorrow night.
Let’s start with the Golden State Warriors, who only scored 95 points, but it was enough to dispatch Houston on their home court in Game 1. Stephen Curry scored 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting, and Jimmy Butler continued his prowess in the playoffs with 25 points, going 10-of-19 from the floor. Only Brandin Podziemski (14 points) scored double-digit points amongst the rest of the Warriors’ players, so it was a very top-heavy scoring distribution. “Possession basketball” was the name of the game in Game 1 for both sides.
The Warriors were top-heavy with their scoring, but Houston was even more lopsided in their opening game of the series. Alperen Sengun led the way with 26 points, but a dismal shooting night by Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green doomed the Rockets in Game 1. VanVleet and Green shot a combined 7-34 (21%) from the field and totaled just 17 points between them. The Rockets closed the deficit to within three points in the final quarter, but in typical fashion, the Warriors would close out the contest. The Rockets couldn’t dig out of their shooting hole, and that was that. Houston needs a second playmaker and offensive facilitator outside of Sengun to provide a spark, or this will be a very short series.
Can the Rockets even up the series at 1-1 before heading to the Bay Area for Game 3? Or will the Warriors steal both games in Houston and be up 2-0 heading back home? Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is 20-1 in playoff series all-time when winning the opening game, so history is on the Warriors’ side here. That said, we know the Rockets are much better than the effort they displayed in Game 1 and will look to come out firing in Game 2.
With the Warriors winning their first game this season when scoring 95 or fewer points, they have a new way to win: playing tough defense. The Rockets holding the Warriors to 95 points is a great start, but the scoring needs to come along for the ride, starting with Green and VanVleet. Houston has been a strong rebounding team all season, and one of the only reasons they were in the game was because of offensive rebounds and second-chance opportunities. Shooting 39% as a team doesn’t help matters.
Looking at Game 2 from a DFS lens, one of the best picks across this entire matchup has to be “Playoff Jimmy”. Jimmy Butler has been clutch time and time again in the playoffs, and with a 25-point effort in Game 1 along with 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 blocks, he was a stat-sheet stuffer. There’s no reason we can’t expect Butler to come up huge again, especially because of the defensive attention given to Curry. The former Miami Heat star is the biggest factor in this entire series and once again, he should succeed in all areas for Game 2.
Kevin has been writing about sports since 2015 with a primary focus on fantasy football. His work has been featured on outlets like Matthew Berry's Fantasy Life, FantasyPros, Sports Illustrated, RotoBaller, Fantasy Alarm, and numerous other fantasy websites. As a native New Yorker now living in the Midwest, Kevin counts the Green Bay Packers, New York Yankees and Syracuse Orange as his favorite teams.