Firstly congrats to the Rockets - I had written them off after game 4 and they showed tremendous heart and fight to turn it around and win three on the trot to take a fabulous series against a good Clippers side. I don't know much about the GSW's, so I would like to get some informed comments on how you locals think we will go against the Warriors. You can give a game by game prediction or just a brief summation.
We will have to play significantly better to beat the Warriors in a series. The role players will have to keep scoring. Who knows what this team is really capable of though? My prediction is Rockets in 6 after taking games 1, 3 and 4 and 6.
Klay Thompson and Curry are for real... Deadly three point shooters who have no fear. because effective 3 pt shooting is like a dagger in basketball. As was controversialy stated during the all star game, Thompson could possibly be the best shooting guard prototype in the league. Harden is superior because not only is harden a shooting guard, he could arguably be rated in the top 5 in point guards. Rockets defense will have to step up.... Big time.
Point Guard > They are better here. Curry is unbelievable, any amount of space you give him he will drain a 3 right in your face. One thing though I'll say is that I question his ability to affect games when his shot is off. If he goes cold it feels like the entire Warriors team sort of goes cold. We don't have Conley or Allen to get those games out of him..but who knows... Shooting Guard < We have the advantage here. People will say coming into this battle "Klay shuts down Harden HA DUR!" just like people thought Redick shut down Harden. Harden will get his... SF = About even here...Ariza though has championship experience... PF = This too is even to me. Green is a great player but matched up with Smith I'm not sure he has a big advantage there. Smith just outplayed Griffin IMO for two straight games...so yeah.. C < Rockets herem Bogut is a respectable defender but he can't defend vertically...and Howard when healthy is a very vertical player. Bench/Others...who knows, this is where it will come down to. I feel like our bench has more heart though...they don't know how to give up and that counts for a lot this time of year. We are the more experienced team. Make no doubt about that. Terry a Champion...Two finals. Harden has been to the finals as the 3rd best player. Ariza A champion. Howard another guy whose been to the Finals. It counts for a lot. We Rocket fans know this. We traded youngsters with no experience for grizzled vets in Ariza, Brewer, Prigs, Terry and it's worked out just well for us.
Also, Rockets are the best team at mucking up a game and getting the other team to play ugly. Not sure what it counts for but it certainly seems whoever we play against play as sloppy as we do.
Check Defensive Rating of Rockets vs Warriors in the Playoff so far here: http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_2015_per_poss.html Warrior is a good defensive team
Also if Beg could give us 10 minutes of hard defense on Curry to rough him up a bit that would be huge. He doesn't like phisicality
The Warriors will be by far the best defensive team that the Rockets face in the playoffs. The Clippers ranked 16th in defense (points allowed per possession), the Mavs ranked 20th. The Warriors are ranked 1st. The Warriors have the depth that the Clippers do not have. They also have the athleticism and defense that the Mavs do not have. Objectively, the Rockets are the clear underdog team and will have to play over their normal level while getting some help with luck in order to beat a formidable Warriors team.
No more lapses on defense, either in transition or right after a score. If it those sequences looked bad this series, it will look far worse against the Warriors.
Could you have asked for a better matchup in the western conference finals as a basketball fan? -MVP 1 vs MVP 2 -two of the teams that play fast, shoot a lot of threes, consistent with the evolution of the game. These two teams are the new kids on the block -a lot of athletic wing players: Jones, Smith, Ariza, Brewer vs Iguodala, Thompson, Barnes, Green Both teams have star players, play an exciting brand of basketball, and are very deep. Very good matchup to see as a fan. All in all, if Howard becomes an inside threat, Rockets have the advantage. *side note: how i wish we had motiejunas*
Fair enough, but the Warriors haven't faced adversity all season long. It's time to put them to the test and see what they're made of. This is just the first of many playoff Marcos to come.
Indeed. This was the best matchup from a neutral bball fan alongside Spurs vs Warriors. I wanted to see that one as well. OP The Warriors have one of the best defences in the league, good transitional defence as well and they already have faced their own adversity in overcoming their worst matchup the Grizzlies. The Rockets will be the underdogs in this one.
