Rockets rout Warriors in Game 2 to even series 1-1

Posted: May 16, 2018 -- 11:57 pm CDT.

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HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- The Houston Rockets blasted the Golden State Warriors 127-105 Wednesday night to even the best-of-seven Western Conference Finals series 1-1. Eric Gordon scored 27 points off the bench in 32 minutes and 38 seconds. James Harden also scored 27 points. After scoring only 1 point in Game 1, P.J. Tucker scored 22 points. Trevor Ariza did not get into foul trouble in Game 2; and, consequently, Ariza scored 19 points and dished out 6 assists in nearly 36 minutes of action. Chris Paul added 16 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds.

Gordon's 27 points off the bench, mark the second-highest total of his playoff career (29 points for New Orleans vs. Golden State on 4/25/15).  He scored 20 or more points 30 times during the regular season after doing so 19 times in 2016-17.  Gordon is shooting 9-of-16 from 3-point range this series.  He shot 2-of-24 from behind-the-arc in three regular season games against the Warriors, but 21-of-30 inside-the-arc.

With the win tonight, the Rockets even the best-of-seven series against the Warriors 1-1.  Houston has still not lost consecutive games this postseason.  Golden State falls to 3-3 on the road this postseason.

The Rockets hit 16 3-pointers tonight while holding the Warriors to 9 3-point field goals made.  Dating back to the regular season, Houston is 48-5 when hitting 15 or more 3-pointers in a game.  The Rockets are 7-0 when holding the opposition below 10 3-point field goals this postseason after going 30-5 when doing so during the regular season.  Including the regular season, Golden State is 13-14 when having fewer than 10 3-point field goals made.

The Rockets outscored the Warriors in all 4 quarters; and, the offense was great; however, the Rockets won because of their defense.

"Honestly, the focus wasn't on offense at all," said P.J. Tucker during his podium game press conference. "I never worry about my offense. James and Chris [Paul] are such playmakers. If we play right and do the things we're supposed to do on defense, we're going to score points. It's all on defense. We get stops, we'll be able to run. It changes the game, and it changes the way we play. We know that, so the focus is never offense."

Head Coach Mike D'Antoni said his team played harder in Game 2 than they did in Game 1.

"No, we did exactly what we did. We played harder. We got into them. They felt us physically. We didn't quite have that same intensity in the first game. Our guys are great and they learned from it, snapped back and did the job."

P.J. Tucker scored a playoff career-high 22 points tonight.  His regular season high was 20 points against the Warriors on opening night.  Including the regular season, Houston is 20-2 when he scores 10 or more points.  Tucker shot 5-of-6 from 3-point range tonight after shooting 0-of-2 from behind-the-arc in Game 1.  Including the regular season, the Rockets are 35-2 when he hits 2 or more three-point field goals.  Tucker is shooting 48.2% from 3-point range this postseason.

Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr said during his post-game press conference, "I just think this game was a matter of the Rockets bringing the force that's necessary to win a game, and we didn't. We had seven turnovers, I think, in the first quarter. We set the tone early with our own play, and allowed them to get some confidence and some easy buckets in transition. We let guys get going a little bit.

"But give them the credit. They came out and played a great game, got everybody going. We got what we deserved. They kicked our butts. No other way to say it."

Game 3 is Sunday, May 20, inside Oracle Arena, at 7 p.m. Central Time.

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