It wasn't long ago that the Golden State Warriors disappointed their home crowd at Oracle Arena by losing two straight playoff games against the LA Clippers, despite the usual huge home turf advantage. However the embarrassment of losing in front of the Oakland faithful was eventually what fueled Kevin Durant and company to manage the game late against the Houston Rockets and come out with a 2-0 series lead:
“I love how we stayed poised,” said Durant, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “We only were able to do that because what we went through in the first series.”
The Warriors were determined to make their home-court advantage count after largely missing that throughout their seven-game series against the Rockets last year, forced to take a Game 7 on the road after trailing in the first half.
Durant and company felt what Steve Kerr refers to as “appropriate fear” and were in touch with it, resulting in more spirited play and composure down the stretch.
Golden State has managed two single-digit wins, but they haven't been shy of late-game mistakes. Durant for one, has now committed three crucial turnovers late in the game, first in the dying seconds of Game 1, as a late mistake turned into a chance for James Harden to tie the game in regulation, one that missed after a clean Draymond Green contest.
On Tuesday, Durant coughed up the ball on back-to-back possessions against the Rockets' trap pressure, which luckily didn't wind up biting the Warriors in the end.
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