MANILA, Philippines — Season wins leader Houston battled an entire campaign to seize a home-court edge throughout the NBA playoffs, but defending champion Golden State stole it away with a 119-106 victory Monday.
Kevin Durant scored 37 points and Klay Thompson added 28 for the Warriors to capture the best-of seven Western Conference final opener in a rare series start on the road for a team seeking its third NBA crown in four seasons.
“We’re just trying to win every game we play,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “It ends up being ‘stealing home court’ but we don’t look at it that way. We won one game on the road. Let’s try to win two.”
Stephen Curry added 18 points, six rebounds and eight assists while Green contributed nine rebounds and nine assists for the Warriors.
“It’s a great start. We played well,” said Thompson, who scored 11 points in the fourth quarter. “We’re not going to relax. We’re still not where we want to be. We still have a long way to go.”
NBA scoring champion James Harden netted 41 points to lead the Rockets, who host game two on Wednesday.
“We’ve got to do a better job of taking better shots, not turning the ball over and getting back on D,” Harden said. “We’ve got to make them rotate and take tougher shots.
“They do a really good job if you take bad shots or turn the ball over. That’s what they thrive on. Those mistakes can’t happen.”
Durant scored 17 first-half points and sparked Golden State after the Rockets played aggressively at the start, using two big runs to jump ahead only to have the Warriors overtake them by the middle of the second quarter.
“You know they are going to come out with a lot of energy,” Durant said. “We just tried to take their best punch and keep fighting.”
“To withstand that run says a lot about our team,” Green said. “The further you get along in the playoffs, the more intensity you need to bring.”
source: philstar.com
