The Golden State Warriors defeated the Houston Rockets 95-85 in Game 1 of their first round series in what was a gritty playoff game reminiscent of the 1990s. Stephen Curry had 31 points, while Jimmy Butler had 25. Butler walked away from the win confident of the Warriors’ chances of not only getting past the Rockets but also winning the 2025 NBA championship.
“Like I always say, Batman comes out of nowhere,” Butler told TNT. “You never see him coming. Then he just falls from the sky, from a building, behind a door and does some incredible things. He’s going to be the reason that we do win it all. We all know that. But we got to protect him at all costs.”
The Warriors had a 110.2 Offensive Rating in the game, while limiting the Rockets to 98.6.
“It felt like 1997 out there to me,” Steve Kerr said. “Completely different NBA game than what we’re used to, and we got to be ready for that. This is what this series is going to be.”