Warriors vs. Rockets

[B-Fly]

The two best teams in the NBA in the series everyone knew was coming. The Warriors are clearly the favorites here based on past playoff performance of the Warriors and of Harden/Paul/D'Antoni (take your pick). So rather than asking folks to pick who they think will win and in how many games, what do you think are the Rockets' chances to pull of an upset, and what needs to occur for that to happen?

I would give them a 20% chance of winning the series, and think it comes down to how physically Ariza and Tucker can get away with defending Thompson and Durant. I think if they force the offense more through Curry, taking away a little bit of the four all-stars advantage the Warriors always have, the better their chances. Obviously, Harden has to be MVP caliber throughout, and Paul and Capella need to carry enough weight on the offensive end to support him.

[OaklandA's]

I agree that the Warriors are the favorites, but I think I'd put the Rockets' chances at around 35%. They do have home court advantage, and Chris Paul has been playing really well lately, especially in Game 5. But Harden needs to shoot better than he did in the last round, and so does Eric Gordon. The Rockets do have some pretty good defensive players in Capela, Ariza, Tucker, and LRMAM, but Golden State just has so many weapons offensively. Looking forward to this series - we have to wait until Monday for Game 1!

[B-Fly]

After most NBA watchers wrote off the Rockets' chances following Game 1, the Rockets essentially stomped in Game 2. Here's hoping this is a great series, although from a fan perspective, it's hard to view alternating double-digit stomps as a great series, even if it goes 6 or 7.

[chancellor]

After most NBA watchers wrote off the Rockets' chances following Game 1...

I laughed very hard at a lot of the mouth-breathing madness that was going on after Game 1. Like Oakland A's, I agree the Warriors have to be the favorites, but Houston certainly has the capability to win this series, and proved it last night.

[chancellor]

And...I think Curry's mom is awesome. Hope Steph likes Ivory.

[B-Fly]

Last night was shocking. While I know what the Rockets are capable of when their system is working as designed, I would have placed the odds very low of them coming back from a 4th quarter 12 point deficit to win a game decided on the final possession in Oakland. We've got ourselves two exciting series now, although one could still argue that last night was the first exciting game.

[OaklandA's]

Yeah, it's kind of amazing that the Rockets have tied the series at 2-2 considering they haven't really played that well so far. Harden is only 13-42 (31%) on threes and Paul is 10-29 (34%). But their defense was really good in Game 4, and they forced the Warriors into some really bad shots.

[DMT]

Warriors really missed Iguoudala last night.

[B-Fly]

The good news for the Rockets is that they are one win away from defeating the defending champs and going to the NBA Finals, and they managed to beat the Warriors despite a pretty poor game from Harden. That said, despite CP3's assertions that he plans to play in Game 6, that may be too optimistic. They have to be concerned about whether he can play, and if he does play, if he can be at anywhere close to 100% and avoid exacerbating the injury.

[DMT]

The good news for the Rockets is that they are one win away from defeating the defending champs and going to the NBA Finals, and they managed to beat the Warriors despite a pretty poor game from Harden. That said, despite CP3's assertions that he plans to play in Game 6, that may be too optimistic. They have to be concerned about whether he can play, and if he does play, if he can be at anywhere close to 100% and avoid exacerbating the injury.

No reason to play him and risk hindering his ability to play in game 7 IMO.

[Judge Jude]

any fans who haven't watched the NBA in a while and watched the last 5 minutes last night - aren't coming back


both teams looked like a bunch of frogs flopping around in a barrel

[B-Fly]

They definitely missed Paul in the second half when the threes weren't falling and they couldn't really adjust. Oh well. Cavs-Warriors IV.