https://hoopshabit.com/2018/05/10/2...ton-rockets-vs-golden-state-warriors-preview/ In one of the most anticipated series in a long time, the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets have all the ingredients for a historic must-watch playoff series in the 2018 Western Conference Finals. Before the Golden State Warriors were in their current famed form, most of the basketball world critiqued them for being too one-sided. It was when players like Draymond Green and Klay Thompson became elite defenders and Andre Iguodalajoined the party that they became an undeniable historically great team, because they could play both sides of the ball. The irony of this series is that the Houston Rockets have come into their own as an equally impressive two-way team, with an equally record-shattering knack for scoring the ball, all while tailoring their roster specifically to defeat the Warriors. While everyone tried to recreate that magic that is the Dubs, the Rockets did it best, down to every nuance. Who knows? They just might be able to beat the Warriors at their own game. The truth is that from a strictly-basketball perspective, this series is truly your NBA Finals. Get ready for a Western Conference Finals of epic proportions, as we crack into a preview of one of the most exciting series in the modern era of NBA basketball. Individual matchups While coach Steve Kerr deployed the “Hamptons 5” of Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green in the final two games of the New Orleans Pelicans series, there is still a chance he reverts to the traditional lineup for at least the beginning of this series. So, for all intents and purposes, let’s take a look at the matchups by position: PG: Chris Paul vs. Stephen Curry This is a classic matchup. Clearly Curry should have the offensive edge, but Chris Paul has had some great offensive outings against Curry this season, including 28 points in a loss on Jan. 4 and 33 points in a win on Jan. 20. Steph will have to protect the ball better as he averaged 3.8 turnovers per game in the Pelicans series and will face smothering defense from a highly motivated Chris Paul. Meanwhile, Curry looks like he has slipped into a groove as a couple of quiet nights against the Pelicans were bookended by 28-point performances. As long as his injury that kept him out the remaining 15 games of the regular season doesn’t flare up again, look for a refreshed superstar ready to pounce. Advantage: Warriors SG: James Harden vs. Klay Thompson This is another historic matchup as one of the best and perhaps most underrated shooters of all time in Klay Thompson goes toe-to-toe with one of the most enigmatic talents of the generation in James Harden. Both will get their share of buckets, but the difference is that if Harden gets shut down on any given night, it will make a lot more headlines than Klay. While Klay did have a 28-point performance against this Rockets team this season, when Luc Mbah a Moute starts at small forward, not only did the Rockets win, but Klay struggled mightily, going for eight and 16 points, shooting an average of 34.5 percent from the field in those games. That just might be a part of the game plan, especially considering Trevor Ariza’s offensive struggles against Utah In any case, the likely MVP gets the slight nod here. Advantage: Rockets SF: Trevor Ariza vs. Kevin Durant We are keeping Ariza in the lineup for now because there is no indication that he will be benched for Mbah a Moute, but clearly it may be a beneficial move. In the end, there is still a great chance that given Ariza’s savvy and playoff (and Finals) experience, he will likely get the nod to D up Kevin Durant. KD went for 20 and 26 points in his two games against this Rockets team, and while he is indeed matchup proof, the Rockets will need to contain him if they want to win the series with some combination of Ariza, Mbah a Moute and help-D from P.J. Tucker. Durant is going to thrive if the Rockets let him have his way and simply hope their up-tempo offense outshoots the Warriors. Therefore, they must continue to focus on the defense that has made them a dynamic and historic squad this season if they want to keep Durant in check. Advantage: Warriors PF: P.J. Tucker vs. Draymond Green Draymond Green’s triple-doubles mean victories for this team, and that is still the case against the Rockets. In three matchups against Houston, only when Draymond has had a triple-double have the Warriors won. While P.J. Tucker did not start in all three matchups this season, he played 27 and 29 minutes in the victories they had over these Warriors. As a matter of fact, when Tucker only played 22 minutes, Draymond dropped a triple-double and the Warriors won. Of course, there are plenty of other moving pieces to the puzzle, but in his three matches, Draymond has averaged 0.3 blocks and 1.6 steals. While that beats his 1.4 steals per game on the season, it falls far behind his 1.3 blocks per game throughout the season. Draymond will have to work hard for his defensive stats. His shot selection (and subsequent field goal percentage) will matter a lot as well. P.J. Tucker has done a great job on him and now that he is likely starting it will be interesting to see if Green can break the trend. Advantage: Warriors C: Clint Capela vs. JaVale McGee This is the least consequential of matchups, mainly because there is a big chance that Andre Iguodala will play most of the meaningful minutes ahead of JaVale McGee, Zaza Pachulia or whoever Steve Kerr “starts” at center. However, whether the Warriors trot out a traditional lineup or not, Clint Capela will continue to thrive off the pick-and-roll as he has all season. Capela’s rebounding is a catalyst to the Rockets’ success this season. The Warriors will compensate for this through Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala. And while Durant averaged six rebounds in two matchups with this team, at his size, don’t count on too many contested rebounds against big bodies like Tucker and Capela. If you’re counting on Iggy and Draymond to fight for gritty rebounding, that is a safe bet. In the end, containing the pick-and-roll game for Capela will be the biggest key to the big man matchup. Advantage: Rockets
Key Questions. 1. Will CP3 be enough if Harden crumbles under the pressure? Any New Yorker that reminds you of Mike Rappaport will tell you the 1990s New York Knicks never went all the way because Patrick Ewing was a choke artist. Hopefully, that’s not something Rocket fans are repeating about James Harden years from now. Inconvenient truth: James Harden has a rough history in clutch moments in the playoffs. Going back to his days in an Oklahoma City Thunder uniform, Harden had a pretty bad performance in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. He also played poorly in 2013 and 2014 in elimination games — like two points in the final 18 minutes kind of poorly. The year after that, he broke the single-game record for turnovers with 13 in an elimination game against the Warriors. Still not convinced? Then in 2017, Harden lost so badly to a Kawhi Leonard-less San Antonio Spurssquad that we thought maybe the Monstars stole his talent. While Chris Paul is less of a choker, he has a poor record of losing early on in the playoffs. However, given his Hall of Fame poise and skill-set, his unwavering thirst for competition, and his 41-point outburst against the Jazz in Game, the proof is there: Paul is ready to win. But, if he can’t rely on James Harden necessarily, does he have the firepower to compensate if the Beard shrinks from the spotlight? 2. Can the Warriors beat the home-court advantage? This Rockets team was built to beat the Warriors. It’s true. At the end of the day, there isn’t a reason they can’t…on paper. They have the defense, they have the depth and they have the stars. Don’t sleep on the Clint Capela to continue to step up in bigger and bigger ways. He is only 23 years old, truly athletic and the least talked about star player in this league. He can be an X-factor outside of the driven and historic backcourt. Add home-court advantage to the mix and it seems like the best chance we have at seeing the Warriors lose. However, the Warriors have the exact same record on the road as they do at home. They also have lost some head-scratchers at home. Aside from discouraging home losses to the Rockets, Thunder, Utah Jazz, Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks in the regular season, they also dropped two Ls to the Sacramento Kings at home. In other words, for better or worse, the Warriors are immune to home-court advantage. The Warriors love to be hated, or at least Draymond Green does, and this team is locked and loaded to use the lack of home-court advantage as motivation on the court. Part of what has made this Warriors team so special is the ability of multiple players to turn it on for driven and emotional performances in nearly any setting. 3. Can the respective franchises handle a series loss? There is just so much on the line for both teams. While the Warriors winning has become a foregone conclusion for the rest of the basketball world, you can be sure that the personnel around the organization are feeling the heat as they go up against arguably the best team they have ever faced in the playoffs. If the Warriors lose, it will likely break the internet, but also will place an immense amount of pressure to figure out what went wrong. Meanwhile, for Chris Paul and James Harden, it will be difficult to digest a loss in this Western Conference Finals. But beyond those two guys, the organization will have to continue searching for answers. The irony of being so good and not winning a championship is hard for a lot of teams in the Western Conference, but for two players as prolific, outspoken and aggressive as Chris Paul and James Harden, a loss in this series would be devastating. It is truly must-see TV, as there is no way this ends without an unforgettable conundrum for one of these teams. Predictions While nobody can predict the future, Las Vegas has a crystal ball, and Vegas is saying the Warriors will win this series. Then again, and unfortunately for the gamblers out there, Vegas also wrongly guessed the Warriors would win two out of the three matchups between the two teams this season. Looking at all of the factors though, it would be far less likely that the Warriors would cough this series up, given all of their weapons and given their experience. They will have to brave a real fight to move on, but I expect them to do so in the end.
Hmmm ... This is lazy and superficial. I haven't read the rest, but it makes me question how much this writer knows about our team. We don't play the Warriors game. We play our game, which is substantially different.
Article sucks . He says curry vs Paul advantage warriors .... ok , I'm cool with that take Then he says harden vs klay ... SLIGHT advantage rockets . **** that . The difference between Paul and curry is not greater than the difference between harden and klay .
Poorly written preview. It contains zero analysis and is almost all hot takes. Wasn't worth posting OP...
Can't lie... all these Rox-GS threads are cool no matter the content. Plenty time to spend between now and tipoff. Let's enjoy it, then win.
Here's a better preview of the series: https://clutchpoints.com/western-conference-finals-preview-warriors-vs-rockets/
Rockets are built to play both offense and defense, with multiple shooters and lengthy defenders who switch everything. In that sense, these two teams are quite similar.
In this series, you can’t analyze position by position matchups as both teams switch for mismatches. People need to analyze all the mismatches that can occur on both offense and defense given 10 players on the court and how the teams can limit mismatches and maximize opportunities for rebounding, turnovers, fouls, post ups, and open shots at the rim and long range.
The biggest mismatch in this series will be when Stephen Curry got switched on James Harden. Harden will be gladly cross over Stephen Curry and drains a step back three in Curry's face.
This feels like it's written by a casual NBA fan who looked at some box scores and threw together a half baked preview. The "Chris Paul chokes" cliche is baseless, the "Rockets imitating the Warriors" cliche is baseless, the "up tempo Rockets" cliche is baseless... I also think these starting five advantage / disadvantage comparisons are pretty irrelevant. In today's NBA, with the fluidity of positions and constant switching, it's just not that simple.
An odd article. There are some good points made, but then there are bizarre references like the "Rockets uptempo offense" and PJ Tucker "likely starting". The Rockets don't play at a snail's pace, but they're also fairly methodical with their execution. This is not a run-and-gun team like the Nash-era Suns under D'Antoni. And Tucker has been the starter for months. Hell, the former starter at the 4 was essentially removed from the rotation entirely by D'Antoni after the Game 2 loss to Utah, so who exactly does this guy think could possibly replace Tucker in the starting lineup? I have no problem with all of these reporters and talking heads picking the Warriors. If you put a gun to my head and made me offer a prediction, I might go with them as well. But it seems like a lot of these folks are making these picks with minimal knowledge of this Rockets team. They appear to have no idea what kind of defensive squad they've become, no awareness that Harden's had some spectacular games thus far in the postseason, and no respect for how dominant this group is when fully healthy.
The problem with this article is it assumes both teams defenses are static. They both switch everything. Those might be the initial match-ups as the ball is coming down the court, but by the time the shot is release, both teams have played 3-Card-Monty to get what they want. So take it with a whole mountain of salt.
I feel like if youre going to predict that the road team wins a game 7, you have to explain specifically why you have picked such a statistically unlikely outcome.
