Rockets' offense picked clean of potency in Game 1 rout by Warriors

OAKLAND, Calif. - A bug splattered on a windshield does not offer much of a challenge, but it does leave a mess.

The Golden State Warriors will spend two days trying to determine if they can wipe away the damage as easily as they did the Rockets.

The Rockets were no match for the Warriors on Saturday, coming no closer in their 104-78 Game 1 loss than they did in the regular season when the Warriors led them by 32 games in the Western Conference standings.

It remains to be seen how much damage might have been left behind.

Stephen Curry, last season's MVP, this season's leading scorer and an unstoppable force in the first half Saturday, left the game after turning his right ankle. He never returned, despite his pleas to get back in. He was called "questionable" to play in Game 2 on Monday.

The Rockets, sent to the most lopsided first-half blowout in franchise history, have their own problems.

The Rockets' offense was demolished in the first half, taken apart by the Warriors' ability to keep James Harden surrounded and to switch defender after defender on every screen until the Rockets left the floor with just 33 first-half points and a 27-point deficit.

By halftime, Harden had more turnovers (four) than field goals (two). When his night was over with six minutes still to play, he had not taken a free throw, the first time in 148 games, including the postseason, the league's most prolific free-throw shooter did not go to the line.

"I just had to figure out what they were doing," said Harden, who had 13 of his 17 points in a 4½-minute run in the third quarter. "Missed a couple easy bunnies. We really didn't have a lot of movement offensively. Stagnant in our offense, we didn't get a lot of open shots like we usually do. We have to be better than that in Game 2."

Nary a free throw

Asked about not taking a free throw, Harden laughed and chose his words carefully.

"What do you want me …" Harden started, "I mean, no comment."

But his issues were part of the greater problem. The Rockets did get some looks in the lane in the first half when the starters, other than Dwight Howard, made just 4 of 23 shots. But they also allowed themselves to be engulfed in the Warriors' defense.

"One of their strengths is versatility," Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "They do a lot of switching and they have like-sized guys in multiple positions. We didn't do a good enough job making them pay. When they switched, we have to move more. Instead, we moved less, which made us easier to guard.

"They had 10 eyes on the ballhandler. We didn't put enough pressure on them and move them around so that our players could penetrate and make plays for other people. This can't be a one-sided game defensively. There's got to be early action, early attacks. They're too good defensively."

The Rockets tried all kinds of combinations. Corey Brewer started in place of Donatas Motiejunas, with Trevor Ariza sliding over to defend Draymond Green. Michael Beasley came in early. Josh Smith played with Beasley. K.J. McDaniels checked in early in the second half for Pat Beverley. Motiejunas played throughout the fourth quarter.

Other than a brief run with a small lineup, nothing worked well enough to consider it a solution for Game 2.

"Defensively, we thought it gave us more versatility to switch things," Bickerstaff said of starting the small lineup. "Games we've watched, the way we've studied it, the teams that have had success versus (Golden State) defensively weren't chasing them all over the floor. They just kept them in front of them. So we went that way. The last time we played them, it was a tied game going into the fourth quarter, so we thought we'd have some success there."

Even Warriors unspectacular

The Rockets didn't, but it was not because of their defense. The Warriors made just 42.9 percent of their shots. Even with the Rockets' 24 turnovers leading to 33 Golden State points, the Warriors did not reach 100 until the closing minutes.

Yet, the Rockets were so overmatched on the other end, the Warriors had Curry for less than 20 minutes, Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson combined to make just 7 of 26 shots, and the Warriors still won by 26 points.

While the Warriors work to treat Curry's ankle, no doubt with concerns much more long term than Game 2, the Rockets have to make offensive corrections they had not all season.

"We have one choice," Howard said. "We do it or we lose."