OAKLAND, Calif. – Everything the Houston Rockets tried Saturday afternoon didn't work against the Golden State Warriors.

A lineup change failed, upsetting the MVP by getting physical with him led to nothing and finding someone else to provide some offense proved to be futile.

Houston had no answers in a 104-78 loss in Game 1 to Golden State.

Rockets players appeared to be bickering with one another on the bench, and had their own coach yell and scream during one timeout before even diagramming a play.

Interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff changed the starting lineup, bumping Donatas Motiejunas for Corey Brewer to help boost the defense. The plan was to give the Rockets a smaller lineup and some added intangibles.

Things were fine for about five minutes defensively as the Warriors missed four of their first six shots. However, the Rockets started the game missing eight of nine shots. Bickerstaff had to call a timeout with his team down 6-0 with 9:13 to play in the opening quarter because Oracle Arena was so loud.

"Defensively, we thought it gave us more versatility to switch things," Bickerstaff said. "Games we've watched, the way we've studied it, the teams that have had success vs. them defensively weren't chasing them all over the floor. They just check in front of them. So we went that way."

Rockets point guard Patrick Beverley entered the picture and got into a skirmish with good friend Stephen Curry in the first quarter. Beverley tried to steal the ball from Curry and after the whistle the two were tangled up, leading Curry to voice his concern with a shove, followed by Beverley's own open-handed love tap to the neck area.

"It set the tone," Beverley said, who earned a technical foul on the play. "We didn't want to come out here and start fights -- of course not. That's not what we're trying to do. We're trying to go out here and play basketball. We're not backing down from anybody and we're trying to win a basketball series."

So are the Warriors, who conducted their own brand of justice as Draymond Green set a hard screen on Beverley later in the half that sent the point guard to the floor. It drew an offensive foul.

The chippiness continued late in the fourth quarter when Motiejunas was flung to the floor by Green in front of the Warriors' bench. Motiejunas got up and pushed him.

All this pushing and shoving by the Rockets was nice to see. It's probably the best way to attack the Warriors -- get physical with them until they drop.

But then you hear what Dwight Howard said about it and it makes you think the Rockets couldn't handle it.

"I think we allowed it to get us a little frustrated and we've got to learn to play through that," he said.

James Harden is everything for this Rockets offense, but he was a ghost Saturday. He missed his first four shots before finishing with 17 points on 7-of-19 shooting from field. What makes Harden so remarkable is his ability to draw fouls with penetration to the basket. Harden drew no such fouls on Saturday and didn't attempt a single free throw.

Harden's streak of attempting one free throw ended at 148 consecutive games. He offered no comments regarding the lack of calls because in his mind it doesn't change anything.

The Rockets' offense needed changes with Harden on the floor, but the offensive spacing was poor and nobody else stepped up.

"We didn't have a good rhythm today," Trevor Ariza said. "That's pretty much it."

While Harden was a ghost in the offense, Howard was invisible. He doesn't get many post touches, whether he gets on the low block or not. Aside from some putbacks and lobs, the chemistry with Howard and the rest of the team doesn't seem to be there.

"I can't get frustrated," he said. "If I don't get the ball, I have to try to find another way to get it and try to get rebounds."

Said the Warriors' Green: "I was surprised they didn't go in with Dwight earlier [in the game]. I think the first few minutes, he probably didn't get a touch. You know, the big fella was ready for the post, but he didn't get many [touches] to start the game off."

Houston trailed by a postseason franchise-record 27 points at halftime.

This is only one game, and Curry is questionable for Game 2 after tweaking his right ankle on a noncontact play, so maybe there's hope for a split.

After the game, the locker room didn't resemble a group believing its season to be over.

Somehow they need to get Harden going. He is shooting only 30 percent against the Warriors in the last two playoff games. Bickerstaff might need to move Josh Smith, Michael Beasley or Motiejunas into the starting lineup instead of going small. If Bickerstaff goes small again, maybe K.J. McDaniels is the answer instead of Brewer.

Whatever the answers are, Bickerstaff has a short time to find them.