Coach Steve Kerr felt a throwback vibe in his Warriors’ 95-85 Game 1 win over the Houston Rockets in the 2025 Western Conference first-round playoffs on Sunday night at Toyota Center.
“They're not a typical modern NBA team, in terms of spreading you out, playing fast, shooting a million threes, they're kind of old school,” Kerr told reporters postgame (h/t ClutchPoints’ Rexwell Villas). “In many ways, they're in the image of their coach. Ime [Udoka] was a grinder as a player. He was tough and physical, and that's what Houston is.”
Led by Udoka, the Rockets aren’t the same 3-point-shooting team they were during the bulk of their James Harden era. Houston shot just 6-for-29 on triples in Game 1 and 34-for-87 from the field overall, even collecting 22 offensive rebounds to Golden State’s six because of its poor shooting. The Rockets entered the game shooting the 10th-fewest triples per game (35.8) during the regular season.
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SIGN UP HERE The Warriors weren’t perfect, but were better on Sunday, making 12 of 32 triples. However, they shot a fair 36-for-76 overall and defended their tails off, even handling the stints when the Rockets went to an old-school, two-center approach.
“In this series, you can see they know where their advantage lies, and it's playing [Steven] Adams a lot,” Kerr added. “Sometimes playing him with [Alperen] Sengun. Having everybody crash. So, it felt like 1997 out there to me. Completely different NBA game than we're used to. We’ve got to be ready for that. This is what this series is going to be.”
The Warriors have won four NBA championships during the Steph Curry era, largely because of how he transformed basketball with his 3-point prowess. But in this series? Golden State must continue to lean into what Kerr considers old-school hoops.
The Warriors likely will take 95 points per game if it means Houston can’t reach 90, as all that matters is winning.
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