The NBA playoffs standings has the Golden State Warriors leading the Houston Rockets 2-0 in the western conference finals after winning on Thursday might and the Atlanta Hawks now come in looking to go to 1-1 with the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 on Friday, while LeBron James and the Cavs will be pushing for a two game lead.
The Warriors are now up 2-0 after Stephen Curry scored 33 points with three rebounds and six assists, while James Harden led the Rockets with 38 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Dwight Howard had 17 rebounds after dealing with a knee injury and he appears to be healthy after a scare in Game 1.
UPDATE: The Cavaliers have won over the Hawks for a 2-0 series lead.
The end of the game was wild, as the Rockets were able to cut things to one before getting the ball back following a miss by the Warriors. With eight seconds left James Harden took the ball up and the Rockets did not call a timeout and they had the chance to put up a winning shot with the score at 99-98. Harden had it at the top of the key on the left side, but he stopped and passed the ball to Dwight Howard in the center of the floor instead of driving.
With the clock getting down to just a few seconds, Howard passed the ball back to Harden and at that moment he was swarmed by Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Curry was able to take away the chance for Harden to make a shot and the ball was knocked away slightly and it was just enough for the time on the clock to run out. The Rockets made a good run at the end, but now they are down 2-0 and that is a daunting task in the NBA playoffs.
The Rockets now have to win at home for a chance to stay in the series and as ESPN Stats & Information reported, in the NBA playoffs when a team goes up 2-0, they have a greater than 90 percent chance of winning the series based on past games. The Hawks are desperate to get a win in their series, as they lost Game 1 against the Cavs and now want to avoid the same fate as the Rockets by losing the first two games.
They are in a worse situation than the Rockets, as Houston at least has two home games coming up to try and even things up. The Hawks already lost home court advantage and if they fall in game 2, it will be nearly impossible to come back after dropping two games at home. The Hawks come in with DeMarre Carroll injured and they are hoping that he can return at some point in the series. If the team had Thabo Sefolosha things would not seem as dire, but the NYPD broke his leg in a brutality incident and he is out for the playoffs.