And then there were two……..That is two in the Western
Conference. A loaded Western Conference has now been narrowed down to its final
two teams. The Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors, play a similar
style of game, but who will come out number one.
Golden State is the clear favorite to win this series but
they’re some questions that need to be answered about this team. The Warriors
leaders “the splash brothers” have proven in the playoffs they can’t be
productive if their defender is physical. Their shooting capabilities disappear
and they become frustrated. Last time these teams met this observation held
true. Steph Curry picked up an early technical foul and was on the verge of receiving
a second technical foul after physical play by Patrick Beverly and Trevor
Ariza. The Golden State Warriors in order to win this series must keep their
composer and stick to what got them this far in the play offs. This starts with
their leaders Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. Steph Curry can’t be the player,
pouting on the bench after going down 2-1 to the Grizzlies.
The Rockets on the flip side have turned a corner. The
Rockets haven’t won the title yet but this team is coming into this series with
a different mindset. The last time these teams met starting rockets point
guard, Patrick Beverly, was a huge defensive road hump for Steph Curry. With
Beverly out of the line up, the Rockets have the daunting task of defending
Steph Curry, which creates a major problem for the Rockets. Steph Curry can
make something out of nothing. Whether it is a play or launching a shot up
before a 24 second violation, he is the engine to the Golden State Warriors.
You stop him you stop the entire flow of the Warriors.
These teams do a lot of penetrating and dishing it out to
the open man on the permeiter. The two guys responsible for this is James
Harden and Steph Curry. Which ever team can limit this style of play has the
edge. The additional oberservation of the Rockets offence was shown in the
Clippers Rockets series. The Rockets ability to pound the ball inside when
their shoots from the permierter aren’t falling. This will pose a threat to the
warriors because of their size advantage. The Rockets have the size advantage
at every position. Their ability to exploit that will be essential in this
series.
Both teams have sharp three point shooters on the floor at
all times so this match-up will come down to the battle on the glass. While
three point shooting allows the rebounds to be long, both teams will have to
battle it out on the boards. I think the
Rockets will lose game one but they will make adjustments to start game two.
The Warriors will pull it out in 7 games.
Although I picked the warriors to win this series I would
not be shocked if the Rockets pull the upset.
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