?We got what we deserved??Warriors? coach Steve Kerr on Game 2 loss
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 18 May 2018
Golden State Warriors? Kevin Durant turned the ball over to the Houston Rockets with less a minute past in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals on Wednesday.
Rocket Eric Gordon tried to bait Draymond Green with his dribble, but the ball kept slipping from his hands until he was in a race against the shot clock. Gordon surrendered no ground, dared the reigning Best Defensive Player last season who towered over him.
And when the Warriors? bench stood in unison to celebrate Green?s textbook defense, Gordon fired beyond the arc from the sideline, made the difficult shot and sent his teammates celebrating instead.
Those twin occurrences set the tone for Rockets rejuvenation that was repeated many more times the rest of the way and saw Houston exacting a 127-105 revenge that leveled the two the best?of-seven series going into Game 3 Sunday at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
Gordon matched James Harden?s 27 points for the night, while three more teammates contributed double figure offensive thrusts each in playing as a team since the regular season and early in the post season.
Durant managed 38 points in another display shooting brilliance similar of his Game 1 heroics but remained quiet in other departments, contaminating teammates Stephen Curry, the only Warrior who finished in double figure, Klay Thompson and Green himself.
Summing all those meltdowns, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr, who?s never been known to mince words to his team?s poor game, said after the bloated loss, ?We got what we deserved.? in Game 2.
?Give them (Rockets) the credit. They came out and played a great game and got everybody going," Kerr told USA Today?s Matt Eppers. "We got what we deserved. They kicked our butts. No other way to say it."
Harden, who was announced as a finalist for the MVP award before the game, struggled shooting and finished 9-of-24 overall and 3-of-15 from three-point range. Gordon went 6-of-9 from deep and Tucker was 5-of-6 to help pick up the slack.
Houston also forced 15 turnovers and out-rebounded Golden State 47-36.
"We got outplayed the whole game. We got it handed to us," Kerr said. "You can look at it any way you want ... but it didn't matter who we had out there tonight, we got beat."
Curry scored 16 points on 7-of-19 shooting, including 1-of-8 from three-point range. Thompson had just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting and 2-of-4 from long range as the Warriors? ?Splash Brothers,? who combined for 46 points in Game 1 were nowhere to be found when the team needed them.
Curry still thinks though that Durant will remain the difference maker and insists Golden State won?t press the panic button yet.
?He?s been amazing and he?s making plays,? Curry said of Durant when asked about his performances in the playoffs. ?He?s aggressive and we need to feed off that focus and determination.
?If he continues to do what he does - offshoot better, play better in defence and get the guys involved, we?ll be in great shape. There?s no panic, no houses on fire type of mentality in our locker room,? Curry said. ?We?re in pretty good shape right now.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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