Despite an eye-popping 37-point performance by Kevin Durant in a 119-106 Game 1 victory for the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni seemed more concerned with Klay Thompson happily hoisting 15 3-pointers on Monday night.
“He is 7 feet and falling away. He’s one of the best scorers ever, right? So I thought he was extremely good. But we can withstand that,” D’Antoni said after taking a pivotal Game 1 home loss that takes the home court advantage away from Houston, according to ESPN’s Chris Haynes. “We can’t withstand turning the ball over, missing layups, them getting out. Klay Thompson got up 15 [3-pointers]. We can’t give him 15 threes. We’re switching everything and staying off for that reason, so we have to clean up some stuff and see if we can do it on Wednesday.”
Thompson took on the role of the second scorer, while Curry took a back seat with 18 points on 8-of-15 from the floor.
The Warriors’ 6-foot-7 marksman made 9-of-18 shots from the floor and only 6-of-15 from deep, but it isn’t common for him to hoist up so many shots from long distance during a game.
Matter of fact, he put up a season-high in 3-point attempts on Monday, having teed up no more than 13 in a game this season.
The vast majority of Thompson’s looks were rather open, which could spell nightmares for the Rockets, as one of the top-five most efficient long-range shooters in the league this season.
Durant will do his damage and exploit nearly every matchup on the court, but it will be up to the Rockets to contain the other All-Stars to salvage a home win before taking the road for Games 3 and 4.
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