1. The Rockets are for real
Prior to the start of the 2017-18 campaign, the Warriors appeared to have the Rockets’ number over the last three seasons, winning 10 out of the 11 regular season contests between the two franchises. They also sent Houston home in a five-game playoff series twice during that time span.
Many fans across Clutch City wondered whether or not the Rockets would ever make a serious run at knocking off their Western Conference foe someday.
Now, a change appears to be on the horizon. The signings of Paul, P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute, combined with the stellar play of Harden, have helped bring an added edge to this year’s Rockets squad.
They have defeated Golden State in two out of the three regular season meetings against them this season. Houston can now officially consider themselves as a legitimate contender for a championship once again.
Rockets are 17-0 when the James Harden/Chris Paul/Clint Capela trio all plays. That includes road and home wins over the Warriors.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) January 21, 2018
"“We’re confident because we know if we’re doing what we’re supposed to do, we’re going to beat them,” Clint Capela told ESPN‘s Tim MacMahon. “We’ve got to keep playing. We know that they’re going to come back if we have the lead, and we’ve just got to keep that mindset. Sometimes, I feel like in the past, we were all dragging down after mistakes. But today, we were ready. I think that if we’re doing what we’re supposed to do on defense….and keep playing our offense by keeping that mentality all game long, we have the weapons to beat them. We are better than them.”"
Although championships are not won in January, no one can deny that the Rockets have proven that they can compete with Golden State. Houston appears to have laid a solid foundation that could prove to be vital with the regular season series officially concluded.
On opening night, Houston rallied all the way back from a 17-point deficit on the road to knock off the Warriors, without the services of Chris Paul late due to a bruised left knee. It managed to withstand a Golden State rally late in the fourth quarter Saturday night, capturing the tiebreaker the Rockets hope to put to good use by season’s end. They currently sit 3.5 games behind the Warriors for the top spot in the conference standings.
Great win for the Rockets. Flew around defensively, beat the Warriors up 46-33 on the glass, forced 19 turnovers, got 11 huge 3s from Harden/CP3, pull to within 3.5 games of Warriors, clinch potential tiebreaker.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 21, 2018
"“Mentally, now we have a chance to go after the No. 1 seed.” Rockets guard Eric Gordon said to reporters. “Because if it’s a tie at the end of the year, we have that edge. That’s why we all thought that it was very important to win. Now that we’re healthy, I think that we’re going to get back on a winning streak and get back to what we need to do, like we did earlier in the year.”"
Next: The 50 greatest NBA players of all time (updated, 2016-17)
The Rockets will seek to take advantage of an off day, prior to getting prepared for Monday night’s tilt against the Miami Heat.