The second official game of the NBA season kicked off with the defending champion Golden State Warriors playing the Houston Rockets. It was a boring first half, but the second half was very entertaining as the Rockets fought their way back into the game.
The Rockets showed a lot of resilience by coming back after being down by double digits. Momentum swung in their direction in the second half. They managed to defeat the champs 122-121. The win means a lot to the Rockets and boosts their expectations for the rest of the season, while the Warriors start off the season with a loss.
Contributions
The story of the night was that a lot of players on the Rockets contributed to winning the game in a team effort led by James Harden. Harden was his typical self-driving to the basket and creating for teammates, but also scoring in the paint and around the perimeter. James Harden finished the game with 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 10 assists.
Players like P.J Tucker, Trevor Ariza, and Luc Mbah a Moute made timely shots to keep the Rockets in the game and played great defense. Tucker finished with 20 points and 6 rebounds and Mbah a Moute finished with 14 points, along with 4 rebounds.
Eric Gordon played terrific making timely baskets and making and ones. The shooter finished with 24 points.
Shooter Ryan Anderson accumulated 13 points and Clint Capela had 12.
Hot shooting for the Dubs
The Warriors came out of the gate blazing on offense as Klay Thompson was making three-pointers left and right. Newly acquired player Nick Young played well scoring 23 points and shooting 6 of 7 from the three-point line. Shooting threes are something he has done for a majority of his career.
He fits well into the Golden State Warrior system and he might need to continue to do so with Draymond Green's injury.
Durant too late
Kevin Durant shot a mid-range shot that looked to be a buzzer beater, however, it was too late. Looking back at the replay it was obvious that he did not get the shot off in time.
Are the Warriors unstoppable?
Will they win yet another trophy this year?The Golden State Warriors have high expectations and are set to have another stellar season. The Rockets put a dent into that as they suffer a loss for their first game at home.
Injuries
For the Rockets, Chris Paul was taken out late in the game with a sore knee. Paul still does not seem to be on the same page with the team as he is still learning the offense. He has a rough night shooting as he finished the game with only 4 points on 2-9 shooting from the floor. Although, he did contribute on the defense end and on passing the ball out to teammates with 11 assists.
The Golden State Warriors suffered a setback with player Draymond Green exiting the game.
He is the heart and soul of the team and it was a big loss to not have him in the game for his relentless defense and passing ability.
The Houston Rockets were able to win off a team victory and they have shown us that they are better than what critics and others predicted. There is still a whole season to play so anything can happen, but the Warriors fall to the Rockets and it shows that they are not unstoppable and that maybe another team might be holding the trophy at the end of the season. And it could very well be the Houston Rockets.
