The Rockets managed to spoil the Warriors’ ring night on Tuesday in a thrilling 122-121 comeback win, in which Houston outscored Golden State 34-20 in the fourth quarter. A shootout between the two teams was all but expected, considering the offensive firepower on both sides, especially after the Rockets’ offseason addition of Chris Paul.
Both teams shot the ball extremely well, with the Warriors shooting an absurd 53.8 percent from the field and 53.3 percent from three-point range and the Rockets shooting 48.5 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from three, but doing so on 17 more attempts. Neither defense particularly shined on Tuesday night, which didn’t surprise Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni.
In the buildup to the game, D’Antoni noted that both teams were incredible offensively and, with the addition of Paul, the Rockets felt they could hang with Golden State on that end of the floor, noting that “You’re not going to stop them, … they’re not going to stop us either.”
Those quotes, naturally, made their way to Warriors center and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green, who found the comments about the Warriors’ defense funny. He proceeded to take a swipe at the Rockets and their lack of commitment on the defensive end of the floor.
“I don’t know how serious they take defense with that comment,” Green said, shaking his head. “But they added some good defensive players…
“They want it to be a shoot out, which is fine,” Green said. “But we’re going to play some defense. We scored pretty well. But we’re a damn good defensive team too. So we’re going to play some defense.”
D’Antoni was aware of those comments and wisely waited until after their opening night game to respond, jabbing at Green (who only played 27 minutes and left the game due to some knee soreness, as did Chris Paul) and the Warriors by noting that if the opener is any indication, the Warriors don’t take defense seriously either.
MDA on Draymond Green's comment: Somebody said we don't take it seriously on defense. Well obviously, they don't take it seriously either"
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) October 18, 2017
It’s a great line from D’Antoni and I’m glad there’s some real heat between these two teams because it’ll make the West far more interesting if the challengers are actually competitive with the Warriors, making trash talk between them feel real. By the end of the season, that might not be the case, but at least for the opener, the Rockets proved they can hang with Golden State and that’s a great thing for the NBA.
