So your Voters expect the Rockets to Split in Oakland? Win Both Games at Home, lose in Oakland (Game 5) & Win Game 6??
I believe overall we have a better or about the same shot this year than last year. With Paul staying healthy throughout the series, we have a realistic shot at beating them even though they might be the greatest ever. I expect we get to the rim and finish easier than last series. Defense is the key in this series with switching, forcing turnovers, rebounding, contesting shots, and rotating. We only scored over 100 once last year (Game 2 blowout) and played very good defense. We have to find ways to shoot better from the arc and it should help with Harden’s step back 3 and Ariza not being on the roster. With Rivers and House, we can get to the paint easier and hopefully Paul and Gordon get their groove back from last year. GSW bench should be a lot weaker this year without Cousins, McGee, and Young, and with Livingston, Igudola, and Bogut being older. We need to make sure Cook, McKinney, Looney, and Bogut don’t impact the game. For some reason, G Green plays well against the Worriers and I expect him to shoot the 3 better and give us good production like last year. We can try hiding him with their bench players. We don’t need defense from Green, just not to play dumb on defense (there is a difference). I don’t think NeNe can be played unless something happens to Capela. Same with Shumpert. Faried should be played, espically to start the series, but maybe not with Gerald. Tucker needs to play just as well or better than last year’s series, he was amazing (too Thicc). Harden and Tucker have had a grueling regular season, hope they can sustain a long grueling series. CP3 has to improve his shot and overall game. Gordon has to limit boneheaded plays, get to the rim and finish at high clip. The loss of Ariza can overall be neutralized, if we are to let Durant have his, and since he was one of the worst players in that series shooting 20% on 3’s. Some of his defense and intangibles need to be picked up by House and Rivers, while shooting over 30%. This is Harden’s series to win or lose to define his legacy and shut everyone. Harden can elevate his game to a level this year that any offensive regressions from last year with Paul, Gordon, and Tucker (hopefully not) can be neutralized. Overall we are or can be better than last year while GSW should have regressed (never know with that many superstars and all stars). If Clippers can take 2 games at the Oracle, then we should be able to at least take 1 or 2 also while protecting home court. We have a very good shot in taking Game 1 and to lesser extent Game 2.
Rockets in 7. Curry go for 0-30 in game 7 blowout. Donkey touches CP3's head and gets thrown out. Refs can't determine a blowout game 7.
Advice to all Rockets fans watching this series: Don't start with the expectation that we're going to win it. If you do that, the whole thing will be painful. You'll worry about all the things that could go wrong, all the ways we might choke. You'll curse at every blown coverage and every thrown-away pass. Start with the assumption that the Warriors will win it. In fact, they probably will. They have the best record in the West. They're the multi-repeat champions. They have too many all-stars. They had a great team, and then Kevin Durant, in one of the most cynical moves ever, joined it. They rigged the outcome of the league for the remainder of his time there. And then Boogie Cousins joined the party. The Golden State Warriors became an abomination of opportunism and, among some of the top players, collusion. So they will probably win it. But ... we might wreck their plans. We have a cast of tenacious upstarts and underrated veterans. We have the league's most creative player, James Harden. We have the league's smartest player, Chris Paul. We have the league's most underrated player, P.J. Tucker. We have Eric Gordon, a magnificent defender against point guards and bigs. We have Clint Capela, the most agile switching big man in the league. We have Gerald Green, Austin Rivers, Kenneth Faried, and Danuel House, who were left for dead. We have a great cast. Guys who are fun to root for. Talented, tenacious guys. Guys who can take down the champs. They probably won't. The champs will probably win it again. But somebody needs to take them down. Take them down while Durant is still there, while their corrupt dynasty is still intact. Let it be us. Let's go get them. And don't fret about the things that go wrong, the missed shots on our end, the made shots on theirs. Celebrate and enjoy all the great plays you're about to see. Celebrate your team.
I’ve got warriors in 6. I think they split games 1 and 2, then split back here at home and then the warriors take 5 and 6. Wouldn’t be shocked with warriors in 7 I hope I’m wrong. This Rockets team and organization should be incredibly proud of responding to the challenge of a warriors dynasty by trying to beat them, rather than outlast them as the other 28 organizations did. Ultimately, I think KD goes elsewhere (and maybe Klay this summer) donkey is basically washed/trash and the rockets and bucks enter 2019/2020 as the two most likely champs as the rockets outlive the warriors dynasty in the end without slaying it. Hope I’m wrong about the first part and right about the end, obviously.
