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

Their projections for the season should not change based on one game.
Their projections for the season should not change based on one game.

#3 Give credit where credit is due

H
Houston Rockets

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.

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