In the 2018 Western Conference Finals, the Rockets missed 27 straight three pointers against the Golden State Warriors. It cost them the game and the series. In Game 1 of the 2025 first round playoff series against those same Warriors, the Rockets fared only marginally better going 6 of 29 from downtown. It was an entirely different squad of players for the Rockets against a lot of familiar Golden State faces. In the end, not much has changed as the Rockets fall to Steph Curry and the Warriors in Game 1 of this best-of-seven series, 95-85.
Despite being the No. 2 seed, the Rockets were considered by many to be underdogs in a series against their long time playoff rivals. Certainly the Warriors have the experience and the addition of Jimmy Butler has boosted their odds of winning. For a while, it felt like those predictions would play out as the Rockets were down by as many as 23. But, clawing back, they cut the lead to just three late before fading.
There will be a lot to think about after this one, but this is a make or miss league and the Rockets missed a TON of shots. Here are four thoughts on Game 1.
Some seriously offensive offense.
That 6-29 from three was bad. But, only 34 points in the first half and just 43 through two-and-a-half quarters is absolutely awful. To make matters worse, the Rockets shot 11-20 from the free throw line and turned the ball over 11 times in the first half. After flying out of the gate thanks to some made shots and an electric crowd, the Rockets simply could not get points from anyone other than Alperen Sengun, who was awesome with 26 points. No one else had more than 11.
This has not been a good team on offense at any point all year. They rank near the bottom of the NBA in nearly every shooting category and it showed against a very good Golden State team.
Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet just miserable offensively, led to some unique lineups.
If you had Amen Thompson, Steven Adams, Tari Eason, Fred VanVleet and Jabari Smith, Jr. as your lineup for much of the fourth quarter, go buy a lotto ticket tonight because you are a soothsayer. It was as much because of what didn’t happen as what did on the floor. The Rockets backcourt couldn’t hit the ocean from the beach, so some interesting lineups made their way onto the floor. They still needed VanVleet’s ball handling, but he and Green combined for 7-34 from the field and 2-17 from three. They cannot get that production from their guards in this series and expect to win.
Steph Curry is still Steph Curry.
If you thought, at 38, the greatest shooter to ever play the game was going to struggle after the Rockets held him down in a regular season game late in the season, you haven’t been watching Steph Curry. He went off for 31 points on 5-9 shooting from deep. That came after starting the game 0-3 from downtown. It was another typical night for Curry, but still mesmerizing to see him hitting wild, contested shots with the shot clocking nearly on zero. The Rockets won’t be able to completely contain Curry, but they must continue to contest him the way they did. The Warriors only had 95 points. Even with Curry’s normal heroics, that should be enough to get it done against this Golden State team.
The defense and rebounding remained incredible.
The Rockets out rebounded Golden State 52-36 including 20-6 on the offensive glass. Steven Adams was a beast with 12 boards. Defensively, the Rockets were outstanding, forcing turnovers and forcing tough shot after tough shot for Curry and company. The Rockets won many of their games this season in spite of their offense and because of their defense. The same was true for them on Sunday night as they struggled on one end while excelling on the other.
They will need more games like this defensively in this series if they want to even it up and, ultimately, move on to the next round. On Sunday, it wasn’t enough, but even a couple more shots fall and it will be.
