Golden State Warriors: Western Conference Finals Preview
Rockets’ Advantage Areas
That’s not to say the Rockets have no chance in this series, however. In fact, their newfound depth may give them an edge when it comes to the bench, since the Warriors have been much more reliant on their starting five in the playoffs.
To be fair, the Dubs’ reserves were never a high scoring unit. But they defend well, they mesh with the starters in hybrid lineups and they provide temporary rest for the starters without squandering leads. The only question is, will that be enough against a Rockets bench that’s averaging 10 more points per game in the playoffs than the Warriors’ substitutes?
After being billed as a team that was dragged to the No. 2 seed on James Harden’s back, it’s pretty amusing to see so many role players step up at once. At the heart of it all is Josh Smith, a guy many had labeled a cancer because he was a square peg being jammed into a round hole with the Detroit Pistons.
Now that he’s found the right fit, however, he’s turned into a dangerous X-factor who can both find Dwight Howard for lobs (not sure if you heard them mention this 10,000 times, but J-Smoove and D-12 were former AAU teammates!) or knock down three-pointers to spread the floor.
Smith took over the starting spot midway through the Clippers series, but if he continues to start, the Warriors will have another tough power forward to deal with off the bench in Terrence Jones, a guy the Dubs haven’t played against yet. Dealing with Howard on the glass will be its own challenge; adding Smith AND Jones to the mix makes life even more difficult.
Corey Brewer supplies energy off the bench and as we’ve seen in these playoffs, the Rockets like to get out and run a lot like the Warriors do. If Golden State is careless with the ball (as they can sometimes be), Houston is the team that is capable of making them pay for it, especially with ball hawk Pablo Prigioni stepping up on the defensive end.
Finally, despite being an unconscious 53-0 this year when leading by as many as 15 points, we saw in Game 6 that no lead is safe against Houston, whether James Harden is on the floor or not. That comeback took a massive Clippers collapse, but the Dubs should be prepared for the Rockets to harness Rudy Tomjanovich‘s famous words as their rallying cry.
They may be underdogs, but they won’t be backing down just because they’re up against a 67-win colossus.
Next: Interior Battles