Kevin Durant said he doesn't believe James Harden is "cheating" the game with how he plays.

"I wouldn't say that he has an advantage," Durant said. "I think everybody, once they get into the lane, they use little tricks to try to get their shots off. I don't think he's any different.

"He may bump guys off going to the rim, but everybody does that. I wouldn't say that he's found a way to ... cheat the rules. I wouldn't say that. I just think that he has his style of play. It might not be what everybody likes to see, but it's been effective. And I don't think he's been cheating the game at all."

Durant said Harden has "always been clever" at being able to get to the paint and putting pressure on the defense.

The Washington Wizards are interviewing Gersson Rosas for their general manager vacancy.

Rosas has interviewed with the Minnesota Timberwolves and New Orleans Pelicans this offseason. Rosas also interviewed with the Charlotte Hornets last offseason.

Tommy Sheppard is running the front office in the interim and is the only candidate Wizards owner Ted Leonsis has publicly acknowledged.

Rosas currently works for the Houston Rockets as vice president of basketball operations.

League sources believe the Houston Rockets may be circumventing a NBA rule regarding complaints about competition-related matters by leaking a report about the officiating during the Western Conference Finals last season.

The NBA sent a memo to all postseason participants reminding teams that the process for raising “competition-related matters” that include officiating matters need to be shared with their opponent.

The Golden State Warriors were aware of Houston's complaints to the NBA last season, but had moved on. The Warriors "had forgotten about it" until the report was leaked to The Athletic on Sunday, according to a source.

The Rockets protested "landing area" calls on several occasions during Game 1.

Scott Foster has been assigned to referee Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals between the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors.

Foster has not worked a Houston game since James Harden publicly criticized him when he fouled out of a Feb. 21 game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Harden was fined when he declared Foster shouldn't be assigned any more Rockets' games due to his personal issues with them.

The NBA assigns officials for the first four games of a series before the series begins, but does not announce which officials are working until the morning of each game.

The Rockets are believed to have leaked a report about how they were officiated during the Western Conference Finals last season after Game 1.

Chris Paul has been fined $35,000 by the NBA for making contact with a referee in the closing seconds of Game 1.

Paul will not be suspended.

The NBA described the action as "aggressively confronting and recklessly making contact with a game official."

NBA rules dictate that any player or coach guilty of intentional physical contact with an official shall automatically be suspended without pay for one game.

Chris Paul appeared to make contact with referee Josh Tiven as he was ejected from Game 1 with 4.4 seconds remaining in the game.

Paul was asked about the incident after the game.

"I ain't seen it yet," said Paul.

Sources with the Rockets believe any contact between Paul and Tiven was minimal and inadvertent, which would not lead to any discipline from the NBA league office.

The Houston Rockets believe the Golden State Warriors receive an officiating edge, which manifested in the frustrations exhibited by James Harden, Chris Paul and Mike D'Antoni in Game 1.

By the Rockets’ internal count from their video crew, there were eight attempted 3-pointers that should have been fouls in Game 1.

Both D'Antoni and Harden said referees told them at halftime that they had missed foul calls on four of Houston's three-point attempts.

Houston has been making a data-driven case with the NBA for quite some time that the Warriors receive a major officiating advantage.

After the Rockets lost in the Western Conference Finals to the Warriors last season, they went through the play-by-play officiating reports from each game, which are similar to the Last Two Minute Reports except for all 48 minutes. The Rockets found that they had a double-digit point deficit in six of the seven games when accounting for potential points that were lost along the way. Game 7 was the worst example in which they should have had 18 more points. The data found that two of the 27 straight missed three-pointers were missed foul calls.

James Harden and Mike D'Antoni said that the refs admitted to missing 4 foul calls in the Houston Rockets' 104-100 loss to the Golden State Warriors in game 1.

Harden and D'Antoni said that the Warriors didn't give Harden enough landing space after shooting a 3.

"I mean, I just want a fair chance, man. Call the game how it's supposed to be called, and that's it. And I'll live with the results," said Harden.

Harden finished with 35 points, but shot 4-of-16 from 3.

"I'm going to try to be a nice guy because I really don't want to give the charity to them. I'd rather have my charity have the money. So, I mean, the response was they came in halftime and said they missed them. That's what they told me. They missed four of them. That's 12 foul shots. So be it. They're trying to do the best they can do," said D'Antoni.

Chris Paul was also ejected with 4.4 seconds left in the game after getting called for his second technical foul.

James Harden said the Houston Rockets were confident ahead of their Western Conference semifinals matchup against the Golden State Warriors.

"We're a very confident group of guys. We're more than capable. We're excited about the opportunity. We know the difficulties and the challenges that are going to come along that way, but we're prepared for them," said Harden.

The Rockets have been knocked out by the Warriors in 3 out of the last 4 postseasons.

Steve Kerr described his admiration for what the Rockets have built in recent seasons.

"I admire what Houston's done over the last couple of years -- building their roster, building their style and competing with us. Obviously, last year's series was epic and great competition, so I've got great respect for what they've done. They're relentless. They're continuing to come at us, so we've got to be ready."

The Houston Rockets are traveling to the San Francisco Bay Area ahead of a potential Game 1 at Oracle Arena against the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors will have two opportunities to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers to advance to the second round of the playoffs.

The Rockets want to adjust to Pacific Standard Time and will practice at Oracle Arena over the weekend.

The Rockets don't intend to disrespect the Clippers with their travel plans.

If the Clippers upset the Warriors, Houston will host Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals.