Golden State Warriors: 5 Lessons From WCFs Game 1
4. Dwight Howard‘s Knee A Concern?
Livingston made a huge difference for the Warriors, but we shouldn’t ignore the fact that the Rockets were playing with a Dwight Howard who really didn’t look like himself for most of the game.
Part of that came from Steve Kerr‘s decision to go with a small-ball lineup in the second quarter (more on that in a bit). Golden State’s active hands, especially with Draymond Green on him, led to quite a few D-12 turnovers and fast break opportunities for the Warriors.
I expect the Warriors to play much better than this in the rest of the series. The bigger question is Dwight Howard's health.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) May 20, 2015
However, once he sustained a left knee bruise in the first quarter, falling over his own teammate Josh Smith while he was going for a rebound, he just wasn’t the same. Howard played during the second and third quarters, but did not return after checking out one minute into the fourth quarter.
Howard finished the game with an underwhelming seven points on 3-of-7 shooting, though he did add in 13 rebounds in his 26 minutes. He looked hobbled and ineffective, far different from the spry D-12 everyone enjoyed in the first two series.
Golden State took advantage.
This unfortunate luck for the Rockets bailed the Dubs out a little bit. Andrew Bogut picked up three early (dumb) fouls in the first half, which left Kerr with no choice but going small. But without Howard at 100 percent, Houston couldn’t make the shorter Warriors pay for it on the other end.
Clint Capela played extremely well for a 21-year-old rookie, but he’s no Dwight Howard. D-12 will be evaluated today, so we’ll know more about his status. But if he misses significant time or has to play hobbled, this series could be over pretty quickly.
Dwight Howard had several trainers/doctors looking at him tonight. He will be fully evaluated tomorrow.
— Jenny Dial Creech (@jennydialcreech) May 20, 2015
Next: No. 3