As the Twittersphere might say, the Houston Rockets are living in the Golden State Warriors’ heads rent-free right now.
And that’s giving the Rockets the first advantage, should they face their rival in the next round of the 2019 NBA playoffs.
The Warriors lost Game 5 of their first round series against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night, while the Rockets closed out against the Jazz in their fifth contest against Utah.
Obviously, it means the Warriors have to play at least one more game than the Rockets did, which is a factor in terms of rest for the Rockets. But there’s a mental component here for both teams after Houston nearly took down the Dubs in last year’s Western finals.
First, there’s this confidence from Rockets center Clint Capela, who said he wants to face the Warriors:
And although Mike D’Antoni made a face while joking about “running it back” against the Warriors again, this oozes some confidence to me:
What about the Warriors? Did they look ahead too much and underestimate their current opponents, an extremely feisty Clippers squad with Patrick Beverley bugging Kevin Durant and Lou Williams exploding off the bench?
Here’s Klay Thompson earlier in the week:
And what he said after Wednesday’s loss:
Durant, however, denied he was thinking about Houston, but questions about the next series that hasn’t been set yet can’t help:
Does this mean ZOMG ROCKETS IN 4? No. All this means is this: When the Warriors rebound and win their series, they’ll go into the rematch we’ve all been waiting for at a slight disadvantage.
And the Rockets will need every advantage they can get if they want to take down the Golden State juggernaut.
