5 reasons why Warriors' opening night loss is NOT A BIG DEAL

For the second straight season, the star-studded Golden State Warriors kicked off their campaign with a loss to a Conference contender. Last year, it was to the San Antonio Spurs while this year it was to James Harden and the Houston Rockets.

Right from the beginning of the off-season, once Golden State had retained most of their core and added deadly role players, they were considered runaway favorites to repeat as Champions.

While the night began how any of the 30 NBA teams would want theirs to - raising a championship banner to the rafters - it didn't end well for the reigning champions.

They've had plenty luck go their way en route to their two championships in the last three years, but it would be unfair to change their projection for this season based on this one game and here's why:

#5 Warriors were not at full strength

Golden State Warriors v Minnesota Timberwolves — Andre Iguodala

Citing the absence of Andre Iguodala, who was declared inactive prior to the game, as an excuse for the Warriors' loss wouldn't be right. However, at the same time, not having him on the court is a huge deal for the team given his defense, offense and playmaking contributions.

Iguodala was ruled out because of a back strain but he and head coach Steve Kerr are optimistic that he's on the right track to quickly make it back on the court.

Draymond Green missed the entire fourth quarter after he injured his left knee in the closing seconds of the third quarter. He's slated to get an MRI done before the team departs for the first back-to-back of their schedule at New Orleans and then Memphis. His absence down the stretch of the game also played a huge part in the Rockets' making their comeback.

The Warriors also missed an additional role player in Omri Casspi. He had already rolled his right ankle in the preseason finale and four minutes into his Warriors' debut, he sprained his left ankle.

#4 Kerr blames poor conditioning and fitness for loss

Again, not to give excuses but this is what Steve Kerr said after the loss:

"I just thought we looked tired. I don't think we are in good enough shape yet to play a 48-minute game against a great team."

It's true. The Warriors deserved to lose.

Since their Media Day on September 22nd till opening night (October 17th), the Warriors only played a competitive 48-minute game four times. Everything else involved scrimmaging during practices or promotional NBA events on their trip to China.

So although fit, not a lot of players from the team, even the starters, got a lot of game time to instantly fall into the flow of things when they needed to down the stretch against the Rockets.

They were among the teams who played the least number of preseason games. Not to mention the physical wear and tear involved with traveling back and forth from China, which is a time zone close to twelve hours ahead of the Bay Area.

#3 Give credit where credit is due

Chris Paul sent most of crunch time on the bench but those were only part of the headlines. The headlines were how good the Rockets were and what a serious contender they will be, come Playoff time. Whether or not that's true, you can't take anything away from them for their performance.

Despite being down by as many as 17 points in the second half, the Rockets never gave up and rallied late to win the close game 122-121. Led by James Harden (27 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds), Houston received a huge boost from their bench - Eric Gordon, Luc Mbah a Moute and PJ Tucker - who combined for 58 points.

They were great, no doubt, but can they play like this and beat the Warriors four times in seven games? Only time will tell but for now, they've certainly got Golden State's attention if they hadn't already.

#2 Stephen Curry foul trouble hurt Warriors' rhythm

The Warriors had control of the game through three quarters and they've had a reputation of cruising to games where they lead by double digits heading into the final quarter. However, the Rockets snapped their 28-game win streak (when they led by 15 points or more) on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning IST).

As mentioned earlier, the Warriors were already missing a couple of key players for the game. What made matters worse was Stephen Curry's early foul trouble. That kept forcing him to be seated on the bench as the Warriors fielded odd and unusual lineups on the floor.

These Warriors are still Curry's team. Kevin Durant was named Finals MVP but Curry had the highest +/- for the 2017 Playoffs - +245 (17 games), which also happens to be an NBA record. Having Curry off the floor in unusual minutes didn't allow the Warriors to break away and take the game out of the Rockets' hands.

#1 KD's shot was late by less than a second

Kevin Durant made the last shot but it was too late (Image courtesy: uk.news.yahoo.com)

With all the difficulties, shortcomings and talent deficits that the Warriors faced, they were still only less than second late from claiming victory. Durant's potential game-winner was in his hands when the final buzzer sounded but clearly, a few tenths of a second more and the ball was off of his hands, giving the Warriors the win.

Everything said and done, the Rockets still needed some last second luck to clinch the victory and maybe it was well earned but is luck going to help them win four games in seven during the Playoffs against these Warriors? That's highly doubtful.

So unlike last year's season-opening loss, which was a 29-point drubbing, there is absolutely no need to panic after this one. A loss is a loss but the Warriors do understand the bigger picture and so should we.

If these Warriors are all healthy just before the postseason, it's going to be difficult for any team to beat them four times in seven games, given their depth and talent.