Golden State Warriors: 5 Lessons From WCFs Game 1

3. No Lead Is Safe

Again, this one is sort of tied into the small-ball aspect we’ll cover in a second, but we saw plenty of sizable leads shrivel up during this game. In the first half, the Warriors closed the second quarter on a 25-6 run to turn a 16-point deficit into a three-point halftime lead.

But as much as the Warriors were the ones who set Twitter ablaze with their scalding second quarter run, they could never create enough separation from the resilient Rockets. With Howard on the bench, James Harden decided to remind people why he was the MVP runner-up this season, absolutely torching Klay Thompson with an array of unstoppable step-back jumpers.

Harden dropped 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the fourth quarter to keep his team in the game, unleashing the burst of one-on-one moves to score 10 of Houston’s 13 points in a four-minute stretch that saw the Rockets turn a five-point deficit into a tie ballgame. And even after the Dubs went on another 9-0 run, the Rockets still weren’t done.

No matter how hard Curry and the Dubs tried to create separation with high percentage shots (or ridiculous Curry threes in transition), the Rockets just wouldn’t go away. This shouldn’t be a surprise for a team that went on a 49-18 run to close Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Clippers, but suffice it to say that no lead is safe in this series.

The Warriors are among the best in the NBA at protecting leads. In fact, they’re 53-0 in games in which they’ve led by at least 15 points. But they certainly shouldn’t put that unblemished record to the test against the MVP runner-up and his band of unrelenting role players.

Next: No. 2