[ClutchFans] Clutch City Lives! Rockets pull off historic comeback, advance to West Finals

Rockets have to be gritty against the Warriors. Give Curry and Klay no space.

 

Rockets in 7. I think we can do it in 6 but I feel this will go the distance. We can do it!!!!!

 

Yeah, I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I picked Warriors in 5. They're just too damn good this year.

If(and this is a HUGE if) the Rockets can get solid games out of Dwight, T-Jones, and Smith consistently, they have a shot at the upset. The one area the Warriors are not as tough a matchup as the Clippers is at the 5 and 4 spots. Bogut is a solid center, but he ain't as athletic as DeAndre. And Golden State doesn't have anyone like Griffin who'll be a nightmare for Smith and T-Jones to guard.

Of course, the real X-factor remains James. Does he elevate his game a notch or two to flip the bird to every member of the media who voted for Curry over him for MVP? We'll see.

 

Need to bring it back home 1-1, otherwise they're [likely] in trouble.

 

I like what Dwight just said, "We're happy, but we're not satisfied."

 

Warriors are a jump shooting team. Rockets defend 3s pretty well actually.

 

Fawk I'm still so pumped.

 

Rockets in 6 a lot more likely than rockets in 7.

 

Hope the coaching staffs watch all the Warriors tapes very carefully and make a good plan for this team. It would be hard to play catching up.

 

PODCASTPODCASTPODCASTPODCAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


CLUTCHHHHHHCITYYYY2.0

 

Eerily like the 95 playoffs, Clippers are the Suns, GSW are the Spurs where both swept the Rockets in the regular season and Curry/Robinson got MVP over Dream/Harden.

 

we are so motivated, and we got momentum that should carry from game 6. lets go rednation. Rockets in 6

 

Technically the Spurs were 5-1 against us in 1994-95. Maxwell hit a 35-foot 3-point bomb to eek out that lone victory.

If you wanna take it a step further, the Magic were 2-0 against us during the regular season back in 1995. This year, the Hawks were 2-0.

Here's hoping history repeats itself.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Coach <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveKerr">@SteveKerr</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenCurry30">@StephenCurry30</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/andrewbogut">@andrewbogut</a> discuss the upcoming Western Conference Finals. WATCH » <a href="https://t.co/15b7SSA43s">https://t.co/15b7SSA43s</a></p>&mdash; Golden St. Warriors (@warriors) <a href="https://twitter.com/warriors/status/600090287822614528">May 18, 2015</a></blockquote>
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I blame Horry, he pulled a tinny and led me astray on the history.

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C U Next Tuesday Bogut, Daddy's Boys Duo, and Teeth.

 

Rockets in 6.
Believe it. Again.

 

It feels unreal... Seriously unreal.

 

I took Warriors in 6. I do that because I am always wrong about these things. I predicted Clips in 6, so it should work out well.

 

1. The Real MVP?

It feels like this year belongs to Stephen Curry, and the Golden State guard won the Most Valuable Player award in a landslide. Houston's James Harden, though, was a worthy runner-up. CBSSports.com's Matt Moore broke down the race in great detail, and when you really look at it, the vote probably should have been closer than it was.

The argle-bargle between Warriors and Rockets fans will be exhausting if one team clearly outplays the other, and we know that the two superstars won't spend much time guarding each other. Still, it's fun that the two most impactful players in the league this season will meet with a trip to the Finals on the line. Especially given that Harden seemed a little salty about the whole thing.

3. The brilliance of Golden State's defense

We'll remember Curry's 62-footer and the Warriors raining 3s against the Memphis Grizzlies, but the real reason they advanced is their defense. Golden State allowed the fewest points per possession of any team in the regular season, and they put the clamps on Memphis in Game 4 and beyond. It's going to be a big adjustment going up against Houston, though.

While the Grizzlies' offense revolves around Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph's inside presence, the Rockets made and attempted more 3-pointers than anybody else in the regular season. The Warriors dared Memphis to beat them from the outside, but that obviously won't be the strategy here. With a spaced floor, pick-and-rolls involving Harden and Dwight Howard aren't easy for anybody to cover, even Golden State.

5. Dominant Dwight

Howard hasn't advanced this far in the postseason since 2010, when his Orlando Magic lost to the Boston Celtics in six games. He finished fourth in MVP voting that year and second the next, and he's finally looking similar to that guy again. He's not getting as many post-ups as he'd probably like, but he's healthy and he's been an elite defender and rebounder.

The Rockets need peak Howard if they're going to defeat this Warriors juggernaut. Games will change if he can get Andrew Bogut into foul trouble. His ability to move his feet, protect the paint and play defend pick-and-rolls without fouling will go a long way toward slowing down Golden State's attack.

7. Iguodala's time to shine

Andre Iguodala averaged 27.6 minutes per game in the first round against the New Orleans Pelicans and 27.3 per game against the Grizzlies, just slightly up from his 26.9 minutes per game in the regular season. This might be the time to bring that number above 30.

The Warriors have many capable wing defenders, but Iguodala is the best of them. It makes sense to have him guard Harden as much as possible without throwing the other guys out of rhythm, and it'll be easier to keep him out there if he keeps shooting as well as he did in the second round. While he helped his team by graciously accepting a bench role this season, this particular challenge gives him a chance to be the difference-maker.

9. One man's trash …

Josh Smith and Corey Brewer not only led the Rockets' insane fourth-quarter run in Game 6 against the Los Angeles Clippers, they were instrumental in the team fighting back from the 3-1 series deficit. The two of them could hardly buy a bucket in the first four games, but combined to shoot 53.6 percent from the field and 47.6 percent from deep in the final three.

Houston picked up Smith when the Detroit Pistons waived him just before Christmas, and it acquired Brewer in a salary dump about a week before that. The fact they've raised the team's ceiling is a great story, but it's no secret that these two can be erratic. The Rockets have to hope they keep making shots.​

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25188248

 

Just wanted to log in and say I am so ****ing happy right now! This is amazing! What a comeback and what an opportunity in this next round!