ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Warriors 5/19/2015 (Western Conference Finals, Game 1)

Smoove is gonna body check Curry into the scorer's table.

 

Well Harden here's your chance to prove who was really the MVP. Bogut should not be effective at all vs playoff Dwight. I expect Dwight to dominate the paint. Steph better stay by the 3 point line because we will foul you hard in the lane boy, just ask Blake about it.

 

Rockets in 6. Time to shock the sporting world

 

I would love to watch the Rockets troll espn.

 

The Splash Bros. and Draymond are their 3 most dynamic players. But Andrew Bogut is the reason why they're a 67 win team instead of a 57 win team. He's a tremendous defensive player.

Harden/Howard need to get Bogut into foul trouble. If David Lee is on the floor at the same time as Harden, things are going to get very dangerous for the Warriors. We have to attack Bogut with Harden drives/PnRs and Smoove/Howard 4-5 PnRs. Draymond might've finished 2nd in the DPOY because of his tremendous versatility, but Bogut is the key to that D and forcing him into foul trouble is our best shot in this series imo.

Harden needs to match Curry in terms of impact
Dwight needs to be the hands down best BIG in this series

If we do that, we'll have a puncher's chance. GS is simply more complete than us. They won 67 games and swept us for a reason. But we have some clear advantages over them in terms of rebounding/interior scoring/foul drawing. We need to assert our dominance in those aspects of the game, because the Warriors will outshoot us, outdepth us, and out-versatile us.

I'm loving all the media hate/doubt. Huge game 1. We need to split these first two in GS to have a chance imo. And Game 1 is probably our best shot. Let's go Rockets. Believe.

 

At least JVG would love it. Breen seems pretty even and unbiased. I wonder about Jackson... His former team, so is he supportive of the organization or ticked off that he was let go...

 

Curry is gonna get hurt sticking his legs out on jumpers. Just saying.

 

I REALLY hope the Rockets avoid a Game 1 start like they did with the Clippers...they were going in SLOMO and played sloppy all around. I hope they come out pumped, under control, and on fire

 

I've started a spreadsheet to tally and average REPUTABLE and non-Houston based expert picks. Feel free to add to it and keep track.

I'll try to find a link with Reggie giving his prediction.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yQdt-nRMQN5UlDFjUWCnae4cSSCar41QFIhp05Vs8HA/edit?usp=sharing

 

You stated the similarities...and the 1 BIG difference is that Warriors are the best defensive team in the entire NBA during the season.

 

Based off of what? Hollinger's formula?

That means Mikwaukee was #2. Also the Suns were 15th best during 2005 and their point scored was same at 110 and points against was a mere 4 point difference. Furthermore, the Warriors defense hasn't been as good these playoffs as they were during the regular season and they haven't faced an offense like ours yet.

We'll see what happens soon enough!

 

So Milwaukee had the #2 defense? Okay...

 

So excited right now. Head says Warriors win but heart says otherwise. First time we take on a team with a quality bench, so the pressure will be relentless. And they are 43-3 at home, it is a fortress.

But as Hakeem said to Elie in '95 regarding the Suns, "let's go down there and surprise them!"

 

Mmmmm... you been wathching/reading ESPN again?

 

Grizzlies reg season avg 98 points per game...Against GSW roughly around 88 points per game. Also the eye test.

 

I think this is the key... we kinda turned into an unpredictable team since game 5. No longer are we Harden-only plays. Trevor is peaking with his three-point shooting. Prigs and Terry have played inspired defense. Smith is hitting from long range and passing like a Mad man. James needs to step it up on D big time and stop forcing... he doesn't need to. Probably the biggest xfactor- Superman is playing playoff Dwight. We get 20/15/game from him... everything else will open up.

 

Also look at the Warriors opponent field goal %...one of the league's best.

 

I know everyone wants to win and that's the ultimate goal but nobody has stated it as much or been asked about it as much as Dwight. This is not a golden opportunity for him it is THE GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY to cement his place in the history of great big men. He's healthy, he's in his prime, he finally has the pieces around him, his direct competitor is certainly beatable. Most importantly I think he's finally mature enough to realize he may never get a better chance than this to get his ring.

You could see the fock ass in his eyes and body language even after we won game 7 when he walked thru that tunnel. He's going to lock **** down in the paint defensively and beast on boards and score at will. All those heart to hearts with Russell all the coaching and mentoring from Dream. It's time to shine.

 

I beg to differ... Anything can happen in the playoffs. It was supposed to be the Clipper's year too. It was everyone's year this year. The difference is the Warriors have had the same team since the beginning of the year. The Rockets have had 40 different rotations and Dwight hasn't been healthy all year for crying out loud.

 

Rocket +10.5 and +510 ML. Another r****ded point spread out of Vegas. Took both bets. $54 to win $50 on the spread and $50 to win $255 on the ML.