OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Down big at home, the Golden State Warriors went small.
With the Rockets seemingly ready to rout the home team, the Warriors used a smaller lineup featuring 6-foot-7 Draymond Green at center and closed the first half on a 21-4 run. Shaun Livingston scored 14 of his 18 points in the quarter, helping Golden State go ahead 58-55 at halftime.
The Warriors held off James Harden and Houston in the fourth quarter again behind their undersized lineup, which worked especially well after Rockets center Dwight Howard departed with a left knee injury.
"It really stretches people out," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of his lineup full of shooters. "Houston does the same thing. It was an interesting chess match, because they like to go small and we like to go small."
"You can't give a really good shooting team easy layups and confidence," said Harden, who shot 11 of 20 from the field. "That's what we did in the second quarter."
Game 2 is Thursday night in Oakland, and it's unclear if Howard can play. Howard doesn't think the injury will sideline him for the series.
"Hopefully Dwight is healthy and we can play big," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "We didn't have that option with Dwight out."
Harden, serenaded with chants of "Over-rated!" from Warriors fans, mixed in a series of step-back jumpers and driving layups to help Houston even the score at 95-all midway through the fourth.
"It's entertaining basketball. We're both supposed to help our team win and do what we can to impact the game," said Curry, whose 2-year-old daughter Riley, playfully interrupted him during his postgame news conference.
The Rockets never relented, though, with Trevor Ariza making a 3-pointer that trimmed the Warriors' lead to 108-106 with 14.6 seconds to play.
Curry twice caught the inbounds pass, and the Rockets were forced to foul him both times. He hit both free throws to seal Golden State's win.
"When we go small, it's not necessarily small. We have guys out there that can guard multiple positions," Livingston said. "From there, it's just feeding off our crowd."
Ariza scored 20 points and Josh Smith had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Rockets.
In the conference finals for the first time since 1976, the Warriors hardly looked like the league's top-seeded team at the outset. Instead, the Rockets rode the momentum from a stunning 3-1 series comeback against the Los Angeles Clippers that ended with a Game 7 win in Houston on Sunday.
The only setback to Houston's hot start came when Howard briefly left in the first quarter after colliding with Smith. Howard returned after a few minutes, and the Rockets raced out to a 49-33 lead midway through the second quarter that left the home fans stunned and silent.
That didn't last long.
Green helped get stops, Livingston scored 14 points in the quarter and Curry capped the spurt with a step-back 20-footer that sent the crowd roaring even louder. Fans later broke out in chants of "M-V-P!" as the Warriors sprinted to the locker room with a 58-55 lead.
They never trailed again.
"When you try to keep your big in against our small lineup," Green said. "It's rough."
TIP-INS
Rockets: Houston is 0-5 against the Warriors this season. ... The Rockets haven't won at Golden State since Dec. 13, 2013.
Warriors:
Golden State is 44-3 at home this season, including 5-1 in the
playoffs. ... The Warriors are 17-14 this season when trailing by at
least 10 points.
CAPTAIN'S HANDSHAKE
The
Rockets sent out seldom-used reserve Nick Johnson for the captain's
handshake with Curry, who was caught by cameras walking away and shaking
his head, which created a stir on social media. Rockets captain Patrick
Beverley is out with a left wrist injury and hasn't been handling the
ritual handshake in the playoffs.
DUELING BOXERS
Undefeated
boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., who was booed by fans during Game 5 of the
Grizzlies-Warriors series in Oakland, watched from a courtside seat.
Also sitting among the crowd was boxer and Bay Area native Andre Ward,
who was cheered loudly when shown on the videoboards.
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