Bay Area Hosing: Rockets Get Undercut By Warriors, Refs, in Game 1 Loss, 104-100
8 on 5. Hosed. Rivers of Hope.
Hope. It can last so long, only to be taken in an instant. The Rockets have seen their share of bad calls throughout the season, in every game. But those calls were nothing like what they witnessed in their Game 1 loss to the Warriors, 104-100. James Harden was undercut consistently on one of the most dangerous basketball plays a defender can utilize. Houston couldn’t catch a break. The NBA loves its darling Warriors, and unless the Rockets can pull off a miracle, this series looks to be out of reach. Houston is capable of making it competitive, as they showed in Game 1. They can even push the series to a Game 7. But, when it comes down to the wire, the officials will always side with Golden State. The refs even came out at halftime, and admitted to Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni that they missed four calls in Houston’s favor, only to miss even more in the second half. Houston talked to league officials, immediately after the game, regarding the dangerous calls undercutting Harden on his three-point shots. And the Rockets have yet to see the impending presence of Scott Foster. Houston has a serious problem. Dynasties are good for the NBA. With the rumor of Kevin Durant all but out the door to New York City after this season, the league is doing its best to keep him in the Bay Area, hoping another ring will satisfy one of the softest and most overrated players in NBA history. The Rockets can all but hope that Harden can return to superhuman form, and the rest of the team catches fire, or this could be a short series.
The sad part about Game 1, Houston didn’t play great, but they didn’t play terrible. They hung with Golden State the entire game, and had it not been for the decisions that hosed the Rockets in Game 1, they would have come out with a victory. That being said, the Warriors didn’t play their best. Golden State committed too many turnovers, and didn’t shoot the lights out. Houston let a game get away, in a series that you can’t afford to gift opponents victories. The winner of Game 1 goes on to win over 70 percent of the time. The Rockets face an uphill climb for the remainder of the series.
There still remain a few rivers of hope for Houston. Kenneth Faried saw no playing time, whatsoever, due to matchups. Mike D’Antoni may tinker with this in the future. Austin Rivers was a late scratch from the game with an illness. I firmly believe, had Rivers played, Houston would have come away with the gutty win despite the blasphemous officiating. Rivers has torched Curry on both ends of the floor in Houston’s matchups with Golden State in the regular season. He was sorely missed tonight, in a game in which Curry was in foul trouble late, Rivers ability to expose Curry on isolation could have won Houston the game tonight. Hopefully, Rivers is able to give it a go in Game 2. And maybe, just maybe, the Rockets will catch a break from the officials. Otherwise, it could be a very short series.