Looking ahead to Game 2: Golden State vs. Houston

Previously, on The Warriors and the Rockets …

After an initial scare, the top-seeded Warriors roared back to life by doubling-down on the top three facets of the team’s 67-win attack – ball movement, expert defense, and knockout shooting. Houston attempted a comeback behind James Harden’s stellar 28-point night, but Golden State hung on for the Game 1 win with a 110-106 victory. Stephen Curry led the W’s with 31 points, 24 of which came after halftime. Reserve Golden State guard Shaun Livingston had the game of his life with 18 points and seven rebounds, slithering to the goal repeatedly to take advantage of opportunistic buckets while Houston looked elsewhere.

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The Rockets ran out to a 16-point lead at one point in the second quarter before turnovers and a smaller Golden State lineup helped turn the tide, so much so that GSW outscored the Rox by 19 over the final two-thirds of the second quarter, heading into halftime up three. Foul trouble for center Andrew Bogut forced W’s coach Steve Kerr into moving all-world defensive “big” man Draymond Green into the center slot, and he forced several turnovers while holding his own on the glass against Rocket pivotman Dwight Howard.

Earlier in the contest, Howard left the game after teammate Josh Smith fell awkwardly and landed on his left knee. Howard had missed 41 games with right knee troubles earlier in the season, and though he gamely returned to the contest he was hardly the same. Rookie Clint Capella was a bit of a highlight machine in Howard’s absence, nailing 4-4 shots with four boards in limited minutes, and Howard had to sit nearly the entire fourth quarter with what turned out to be “merely” a sprained knee.

Though they rarely matched up with each other (both teams, Houston especially, repeatedly switched on defense), it came down to the Curry vs. Harden duo we expected. And, also as expected, that wasn’t enough for Houston to take Game 1 on the road.

Three Things to Look For In Game 2

Medium Ball

It wasn’t exactly small ball, though Curry and Houston guard Jason Terry were flying around, but both teams made their hay by tossing out lineups that featured a seemingly endless array of swingman-sized contributors. Golden State played its best with 6-7 Draymond Green causing havoc on both ends, and that’s likely to sustain into Game 2. Trevor Ariza scored 20 points on 10 shots for Houston, continuing the 6-7 forward’s fabulous postseason turn.

Andre Iguodala, also at 6-7, continued to act at his bratty defensive best, while the similarly sized Harrison Barnes added needed spacing for Golden State while hitting timely shots. This is what the Warriors will rely on once again in the next game. They won’t try to duck Bogut to the bench after a few token minutes, but they are prepared to play like this all series.

This isn’t exactly the worst news for Houston. Josh Smith can play both inside and out, and though he took a few Josh Smith-ish looks from the outside you had to respect his all-around game and ability to run at all three frontcourt positions. In Corey Brewer and Terrence Jones, the Rockets have two other sleek, athletic types that are well-suited for this type of middling affair. They just have to hit their shots after combining to miss 12 of 17 on Tuesday, as Houston’s offense went relatively cold after that hot start in Game 1.

Dwight’s Knee

Howard is officially listed as “questionable” for Game 2, and if he feels like his stiffened knee will result in the same lack of motion as we saw in Game 1, he’ll sit. That’s understandable.

Dwight had his moments, even after the injury. His early screening for both James Harden and Josh Smith was a huge part of Houston’s initial 16-point lead. The Warriors rightfully respected Howard’s roll toward the basket, but as the second quarter moved on he was more or less singled out by Golden State. When Bogut left the contest Howard was muscled out of rebounds by Green, he missed two passes off of screen and rolls with Josh Smith, committed offensive fouls, and failed to move side to side defensively. Howard has had his quirks in all those areas at times, but this was clearly about his knee.

The Rockets have circled the wagons without Howard before, running a rather impressive 27-14 record in the regular season without Dwight. That’s a 54-win regular season, but this ain’t the regular season, and Houston is staring down a 67 win team right now. They have plenty in reserve to win without him (the emerging Clint Capella, who nobody knows hit just 17 percent of his free throws this year, and a series of tweener forwards), but that doesn’t mean the Rockets will be the same team without him.

They weren’t even the same team with Dwight in Game 1, as he struggled to play like himself on one leg. He might give it a go in Game 2, but would he be helping the Rockets by attempting to power through this?

Stephen Curry’s MVP game

It’s a little surprising to expect more for the guy that initiated Golden State’s offense brilliantly in Game 1 while scoring 31 points of his own, but this is where we’re at with the league’s MVP.

Curry almost looked to be surveying the action at times in Game 1, and he missed a few good looks that usually go in. If he’s dialed in from the start, you could get an all-time performance from Curry, as he blows past both Jason Terry and Pablo Prigioni both on and away from the ball.

It was Terry that talked smack in the third quarter to Stephen after hitting a three-pointer (he would finish with a seven points on 2-9 shooting), slapping the floor as the MVP brought the ball up. Curry responded with by calling his own number for a made jumper with his toe on the three-point line, stealing a rebound from Terry, hitting a three-pointer and then nailing Bogut for a perfect pass prior to Andrew botching the layup.

If this is what we’re going to get from Curry from stem to stern in Game 2, then the Rockets are in deep trouble. He probably wouldn’t approach 50 points, because for the umpteenth time in Golden State’s knockout season, Stephen Curry would probably be sitting in the fourth quarter of a blowout.

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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops