With or without Curry, Warriors on high alert ahead of ‘trap game'

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OAKLAND – As much as Stephen Curry’s tender ankle could diminish the Warriors in Game 2 on Monday, it also nudges them away from a place they’d like to avoid.

There will be no complacency.

Curry’s absence, or even the threat of it, puts the entire team on high alert, which is welcome after the Warriors routed the Rockets in Game 1 on Saturday.

“When you beat a team by 20,” center Andrew Bogut said after practice Sunday, “coming into Game 2 human nature usually tells you that you can coast into that game. So this is a trap game for us. You want to make sure we come with the right mindset and go to work.”

Heavy favorites to win the first-round playoff series, the Warriors won Game 1 by 26 points. They played ferocious defense. Curry, however, ignited the offense, scoring 24 points in less than 20 minutes before tweaking his ankle and leaving early in the third quarter.

[RELATED: Curry misses practice, Kerr to 'assess whether there's risk']

The Warriors, after the first few minutes, were in total command and earned a 104-78 win for their labor. Their 1-0 lead in the series, with another home game looming, could invite complacency and they seem to know it.

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“It’s typical for a higher seed, or the team with the best record in the league, to come out locked in and having a big Game 1,” Andre Iguodala said. “Which would set you up for the ultimate trap game, Game 2.

“They’re going to give us their best punch coming out in the first five minutes of Game 2.”

The Rockets, aside from plucky guard Patrick Beverley, showed little punch in Game 1. They didn’t defend particularly well, and they were suffocated on offense.

Yet the Warriors know there are reasons Houston finished fourth in scoring offense. One of those reasons, guard James Harden, never found any rhythm in Game 1 and.

[REWIND: Warriors feed off Rockets' bullish fire in Game 1 win]

More remarkable, Harden, who led the NBA in free-throw attempts in each of the past two seasons, never got to the foul line.

“I doubt we’re going to have another game in the series where he doesn’t get to the line,” coach Steve Kerr said of the league’s No. 2 scorer. “He’s too good, too smart.”

That is Kerr’s attempt to injecting one of his pet phrases – “appropriate fear” – upon his team. The Warriors, the coach often says, tend to play better when it’s present.

It’s present, despite the rousing Game 1 victory. It’s there every time the Warriors go into a game not knowing how limited Curry will be or if he’s able to play at all.

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