Houston Rockets spank Golden State Warriors in Game 2
Eric Gordon and P.J. Tucker sparked a revival by Houston's role players, and the Rockets evened the NBA Western Conference finals with a 127-105 victory over the visiting Golden State Warriors in Game 2 yesterday morning (Singapore time).
Gordon scored 27 points off the bench, connecting on six of nine three-point attempts, while Tucker chipped in a post-season career-high 22 points on five-of-six shooting from behind the arc.
Rockets guard James Harden added 27 points and 10 rebounds. He wasn't forced to carry the load singularly as he did in the series opener, when he paired 41 points with seven assists in a 13-point defeat.
"Total team effort," Harden said on TNT.
"We played harder and smarter than Game 1. We didn't switch up any strategies. Just played harder."
Kevin Durant scored a game-high 38 points on 13-of-22 shooting and kept the Warriors within range with 18 points in the third quarter.
OFFENSIVE WEAPONS
However, Houston utilised their multitude of offensive weapons and also eliminated the defensive mistakes that proved fatal in the opener, limiting the Warriors to nine-of-30 shooting from three-point range while surrendering only seven points in transition.
"Everything was fuelled off our defence," Gordon said.
"Everybody was locked in at the right time and guys were knocking down shots. When we play that way, it becomes fun and that's why we got a good result."
Stephen Curry added 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Warriors but missed seven of eight shots from deep.
Klay Thompson scored just eight points after posting 28 in the series opener.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr said: "Give them the credit... They kicked our butts, there's no other way to say it." - REUTERS
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