The Golden State Warriors had little trouble with the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of their opening round series, despite Stephen Curry battling a right ankle injury. The No. 1 seed Warriors led the No. 8 seed Rockets 60-33 at the half and cruised to a 104-78 win.
Curry had 24 points on 8 of 13 shooting at the half and was 5 of 7 from 3-point range. He was on fire before leaving the game before the end of the first half with a right ankle injury. He started the third quarter, but returned the locker room to get his ankle re-tapped. Curry was on the bench for the fourth quarter, but with the Warriors up big, he did not return to the game. Had Curry played the rest of the game, he could have had a triple-double. He finished with six rebounds and seven assists.
The 33 points were the fewest points the Warriors allowed in the first half this year. The Warriors were on fire in the first half, shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc. The Rockets, meanwhile, made just 14 shots and turned it over 13 times.
The Warriors finished the game with a 42.9 shooting percentage from the field, while the Rockets hit just 35.7 percent. The Warriors hit 40 percent of their 3-pointers against the Rockets' 27.3 percent.
The Warriors had eight players with at least seven points. Outside of Curry's 24, the next leading scorer was Klay Thompson with 16. Draymond Green also had 12 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals and four blocks.
James Harden had just four points in the first half, but was much better in the second half. He finished with 17 points on 7 of 19 shooting. Dwight Howard had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Game 2 of the Warriors-Rockets series is Monday. Tip-off is set or 10:30 p.m. ET. Game 1 was very physical, and that could be the case in Game 2 as well.
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