Houston vs Golden State (Article from The Athletic)

Cant link as it is a pay site, but nice read .

Are these Rockets better equipped to take down Golden State...If the Clippers let it come to that?

- Kelly Iko (1 Hour Ago)

Since the final buzzer sounded following Golden State’s 101-92 win over Houston in Game 7 of last season’s Western Conference finals, the Rockets have adopted “unfinished business” as their unofficial slogan. It’s so ingrained in their psyche that they plan to fly to the Bay Area on Friday, ostensibly to be better prepared for a second-round series against the Warriors, even though Golden State hasn’t dispatched of the pesky L.A. Clippers in their best-of-seven opening-round series that stands at 3-2 heading into Friday night’s game.

Perhaps nobody embodies Houston’s “unfinished business” mantra more so than Chris Paul, who missed Games 6 and 7 of last season’s conference finals with a hamstring injury, watching helplessly as the Rockets lost both contests to the Warriors and, with it, their hope of reaching the NBA Finals.

Those closest to Paul described his demeanor as angry at not being able to help his team advance. And when the subject of a possible Warriors rematch came up after Houston’s series-opening win over Utah Wednesday night, he begrudgingly responded, “CC (Clint Capela) said it best. Real talk. In order to get to where you’re trying to get to, you’ve got to go through them. They’re the reigning champs, been running the West for, like, five years straight now.”

Far be it from me to prematurely predict a Warriors win over the Clippers, but if the Rockets are going to hedge their bets and fly to California to get a jump on what they consider a likely Game 1 in Oracle, who am I to argue.

It’s a shame that a possible Rockets-Warriors rematch would be a second-round matchup, given all would be at stake. Three of the past four winners of the MVP award would be on the floor throughout this series. And the reigning MVP already has begun talk of legacy. Defeating Golden State in the playoffs, something Harden’s never done, would certainly help bolster how he’s remembered, even if Houston didn’t end up winning an NBA title on the strength of it. Just the sheer fact of slaying the dragon would do wonders.

For what it’s worth, Houston won the regular-season series between the teams, three games to one, and I recently explained how the DeMarcus Cousins injury makes Golden State slightly more vulnerable than before. The Clippers are certainly proving that to be the case.

But let’s dig a little deeper and look at some other areas that would come into play in a Houston-Golden State or even a Rockets-Clippers series as Rockets fans continue to wonder is this team better equipped to reach the NBA Finals than last year’s squad?

To answer that question, it’s somewhat instructive to look at how Houston fared after the All-Star break both this year and last year.

2017-18 2018-19
Record 21-4 20-5
OffRtg 112. 116
DefRtg 103.8. 105.3
NetRtg 8.2. 10.7
AST/TO 1.52. 1.8
REB % 49.3. 48.2
TOV % 14.2 12.1
PACE 96.4. 99.25


This year’s Rockets survived the early-season mess they were knee-high in and bounced back in remarkable fashion. An 11-14 start sparked a 42-15 finish, partly made possible by GM Daryl Morey tweaking and reshaping the roster after realizing some of his offseason moves didn’t work. He brought in Austin Rivers, Iman Shumpert, Kenneth Faried and Danuel House.

This year’s 53-win team lost only one more game after the break than the 65-win team of 2017-18 over a similar period. This season’s team also posted a higher offensive rating than last year’s. James Harden’s high level of play was a big reason, but Eric Gordon’s shooting touch returned as did Paul’s. The return of House to the rotation late in the year solidified the second unit, and Paul found some real chemistry with the forward — along with running the second unit.

Three other stats stick out to me: Fewer turnovers, higher assist-to-turnover ratio and increased pace. Whether they face Golden State or the Clippers in the second round, the Rockets have to take special care of the ball and keep turnovers to a minimum if they hope to advance.

Statistically, Houston (27.1 points) has the worst bench in the league. Coach Mike D’Antoni’s rotations have been a bit murky to sift through as of late, but I’d assume Shumpert is inserted back in the second-round series after playing very little in the first round against the Jazz. Gerald Green is capable of hitting a high degree of difficulty shots, which will always keep him in D’Antoni’s rotation, even though his defense is less than stellar. Rivers and House will be steady contributors off the bench as well. Rivers for his defense and aggressiveness and House for his all-around game. I don’t think Kenneth Faried or Nene will see the floor, although I could be wrong on the former. I didn’t think Faried would play much against Utah either.

The counter Houston possesses against naysayers who point to their low PPG is staggering. Paul is largely responsible for leading the second unit and has found success with that group. He has bought into D’Antoni’s offense and has been willing and insistent on playing faster, especially coming off defensive stops and leak-out rebounds. Gone are the days of him wanting to just pound the rock late in the shot clock, as we saw during his stint with the Clippers.

The Paul-Rivers-Gordon-House-Faried group were responsible for a whopping 152.8 offensive rating and 102.6 defensive rating. Having Paul on the floor against either of the Warriors or Clippers second unit would be a win for the Rockets.

In either matchup, expect that Harden will razzle and dazzle, much as he’s done throughout the season. His 44-point, regular season masterclass in Oakland immediately comes to mind, when he led the Rockets back from a 20-point deficit, including hitting step-back-three after step-back-three, capping it off with a game-winning three while sandwiched by Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.



In last year’s Western Conference Finals against the Warriors, Harden averaged 28.7/5.6 rebounds/6.0 assists, but struggled from the field, shooting 41.5%, 24.4 % from three and 88.5% from the free throw line.

House is somewhat of an X-factor heading deeper into the playoffs due to his ability to put the ball on the floor, drive and attack closeouts. And because House is a .416 shooter from deep on nearly five attempts per game, whoever the Rockets face in the second round has to respect his ability to let it fly. That works in the Rockets favor because House is too strong and too quick be denied at times. There will be times in the second round when House will be called on to make a play, something Houston wasn’t extremely confident doing last year if the ball ended up in Trevor Ariza’s hands on the perimeter.

One of the notable trends this season has been the resurgence of Houston’s defense, which has done almost a complete 180 since the beginning of the season. Much was made about the absence of assistant coach and defensive guru Jeff Bzdelik to start the year, and the appropriate moves were made to bring him back into the fold. The Rockets switched far too much and lacked the personnel to execute in the early goings of the season, whether it was Carmelo Anthony trying to protect the rim, Michael Carter-Williams and James Ennis losing assignments, or Capela being targeted and destroyed on isolations. As of now, this is a hungry and elite defensive unit, which held the Jazz to 97.8 points per game en route to winning that best-of-seven series in five games.

If the Rockets do end up guessing right and facing the Warriors, it would be the fourth meeting in the past five seasons between these teams. In any sport, that’s an insane amount of continuity. It’s almost as if they were division rivals, instead of conference foes.

“It’s fun actually,” Iguodala told The Athletic of the one-too-many meetings. “It’s like a chess match, and I like chess matches. I like when you have to think about the game. I feel like it’s always in my favor. But they’re a very smart team — going against guys like P.J. Tucker, Chris Paul, smart players. It’s always fun.”

The Rockets have pushed Golden State more than any team we’ve seen in the NBA over the past couple years. Are they better equipped this season to defeat Golden State than’s last year’s squad? Will they even face Golden State.

Well, if Houston were to get a full series out of Paul in a Warriors series, that would be a huge improvement for starters. Meanwhile, Harden has made a strong case to be considered for back-to-back MVP awards. Capela, Gordon, Tucker and Green are playoff tested and know the full meaning of unfinished business. But the real determining factor is whether the sum of Rivers, Faried, House and Shumpert is greater than the loss of Ariza, Luc Mbah a Moute and Ryan Anderson.

It says here, unequivocably yes. So now we wait to see if the Rockets get the rematch they’ve waited for all year. By flying to California early, they’re certainly ready to take on unfinished business, even it does include disrespecting the Clippers.

 

Didn't know it was a fellow Clutchfan but thought it was a very well written piece so wanted to share. The Athletic is an absolute must buy for any sports fan. I can sit for hours on it reading from the best writers in the business. Well worth the money