The Houston Rockets found themselves unable to steal a game on the road at Oracle Arena, falling to an 0-2 deficit in their Western Conference Semifinal series against the Golden State Warriors. Mike D’Antoni and Austin Rivers are well aware that a lot of the issues that kept them from winning against their bitter rivals were self-inflicted.
The Rockets had nine first-quarter turnovers, partly a result of the Warriors’ energetic defense and part carelessness early on.
“Well, yeah, I mean, usually always does,” said D’Antoni of the impact of starting out the game with such errant ways, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic. “Tonight, especially. In the first half, we had way too many turnovers. We had 14 turnovers. Cost us 20 points. Obviously, we’re going to have to play a little bit better.”
Houston, who usually doesn’t struggle with turnovers, due to their half-court, iso-heavy offense, also suffered on the boards — something that proved crucial despite making 17 threes in the game at a 42% clip.
“They hurt us with rebounds and they hurt us with us,” said Austin Rivers. “We messed up a lot of switches. We switch a lot and they know that. They’re smart. They see that and do a lot of diversions.”
The Warriors found a way to nullify Clint Capela, who posted a game-worst minus-19 despite a much-better statistical effort with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
“They’re good at it because Draymond comes, fakes, goes back to Clint,” said Mike D’Antoni of the Warriors’ disruption. ‘We probably have to go a little bit stronger to the rim and finish. They’re smart. They play the in-between game pretty well.”
Houston has a chance to capitalize on those mistakes and do the little things well with two games at home and three days of rest before Saturday’s Game 3 gets underway at the Toyota Center.
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