The Golden State Warriors continued their playoff dominance at home with a 126-85 blowout win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday taking a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals.
It was the 16th straight home win for the Warriors - an NBA record passing the mark of 15 straight set by the 1991 Chicago Bulls. (April 27, 1990 - May 21, 1991)
Golden State's 41-point win (126-85) is the team's largest margin of victory ever in the postseason, passing the mark of 39 set by the Philadelphia Warriors in an 85-46 win over the St. Louis Bombers on April 6, 1948.
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) May 21, 2018
All five Warriors' starters posted double-digit scoring for the first time in the 2018 playoffs led by Stephen Curry's game-high 35 points.
Here are three takeaways from Game 3:
Steph BACK!
Steve Kerr remained confident that Steph would eventually be Steph again. While many questioned whether or not he was healthy or if he could continue to take the pounding that the Rockets have been putting him through on the defensive end Kerr never wavered. In Game 3 Steph got his swagger back.
Curry was a combined 2-for-13 from three-point range in the first two games of the series - he started 1-for-6 from three on Sunday night - then it happened...cue Mark Morrison.
The two-time MVP exploded for 18 points in the third period going a perfect 7-for-7 from the field on his way to his playoff high 35 points. Kevin Durant is the best player on the Warriors but Curry's shooting is the best weapon Golden State has.
Pace
85 points is the lowest output for Houston in these playoffs, their previous low was 100 in a Game 4 win against Utah. The Rockets just felt like they were playing slower in Game 3. They couldn't get out in transition, they settled for a lot of long contested jump shots - they just didn't have the same punch that they had in their lone win in the series.
A lot of the Rockets' problems was a result of how the Warriors played. Golden State hit shots and didn't turn the ball over so Houston couldn't run.
The Warriors length seemed to really bother the Rockets shooters - especially Chris Paul who didn't have the same aggressiveness in getting to his spots as he did in Game 2.
Expect a much more aggressive Rockets outfit in Game 4 when they play the biggest game of their season.
Turnovers
The Rockets shot themselves in the foot all night long with costly turnovers. A total of 20 turnovers that led to 28 points for the Warriors.
That simply isn't going to get it done against an elite team like Golden State. Game 1's 16 turnovers were a tough pill for Mike D'Antoni and his team to swallow, this will be a lot harder to comprehend.
