2018 NBA Playoffs: Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors preview

2. Can the Warriors beat the home-court advantage?

This Rockets team was built to beat the Warriors. It’s true. At the end of the day, there isn’t a reason they can’t…on paper.

They have the defense, they have the depth and they have the stars. Don’t sleep on the Clint Capela to continue to step up in bigger and bigger ways. He is only 23 years old, truly athletic and the least talked about star player in this league. He can be an X-factor outside of the driven and historic backcourt.

Add home-court advantage to the mix and it seems like the best chance we have at seeing the Warriors lose.

However, the Warriors have the exact same record on the road as they do at home. They also have lost some head-scratchers at home. Aside from discouraging home losses to the Rockets, Thunder, Utah Jazz, Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks in the regular season, they also dropped two Ls to the Sacramento Kings at home. In other words, for better or worse, the Warriors are immune to home-court advantage.

The Warriors love to be hated, or at least Draymond Green does, and this team is locked and loaded to use the lack of home-court advantage as motivation on the court. Part of what has made this Warriors team so special is the ability of multiple players to turn it on for driven and emotional performances in nearly any setting.