Series Schedule

• Game 1 - Tuesday, May 19: Rockets at Warriors - 8:00 PM (ESPN)

• Game 2 - Thursday, May 21: Rockets at Warriors - 8:00 PM (ESPN)

• Game 3 - Saturday, May 23: Warriors at Rockets - 8:00 PM (ESPN)

• Game 4 - Monday, May 25: Warriors at Rockets - 8:00 PM (ESPN)

• Game 5* - Wednesday, May 27: Rockets at Warriors - 8:00 PM (ESPN)

• Game 6* - Friday, May 29: Warriors at Rockets - 8:00 PM (ESPN)

• Game 7* - Sunday, May 31: Rockets at Warriors - 8:00 PM (ESPN)

Not sure who to direct my Barnes hate at yet, but I'll find someone.

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Not sure who to direct my Barnes hate at yet, but I'll find someone.

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Curry's mouthguard

y'all will hate draymond green by the end of the first half

It will definitely be Draymond Green, followed by Bogut's mouth breathing, then Curry mouthguard

You can hate Harrison Barnes for continuity purposes.

Van Gundy, Jackson and Mike Breen for the whole series.

....would love for the NBA to allow Houston/Golden State to wear 1994 throwback for one game in the series.

If it goes to game 7 I think I'll have to make it to the game.

Go Rockets

I have no idea what to think about this series.

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Van Gundy, Jackson and Mike Breen for the whole series.

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Van Gundy?

I want to believe Rockets in 6, but my gut is Warriors in 5. They have overmatched us all year long. Then again, no one gave us a shot after game 4 against LA.

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I want to believe Rockets in 6, but my gut is Warriors in 5. They have overmatched us all year long. Then again, no one gave us a shot after game 4 against LA.

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As crazy as this sounds, I actually like the matchup better vs GSW than I did vs the Clips. GS never got us while we were at full strength, and they don't have DeAndre Jordan and Griffin, so look for James to attack the basket a lot more.

I certainly don't expect us to win, but I think we can make this more of a series than ESPN expects

I agree if we're only talking about LAC's starting 5 to GS's starting 5. I *think* LAC's starting 5 had the highest +/- in the league.

Memphis was able to get 2 games by keeping Curry's shooting % low and beating GS up in the paint. I don't know if we can do the former consistently, but we should be able to do the latter. Plus we can space the floor, unlike Memphis, which should make it more interesting.

I think it's a good match up. I don't expect the Rockets to win but I think it'll be a good series.

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I want to believe Rockets in 6, but my gut is Warriors in 5. They have overmatched us all year long. Then again, no one gave us a shot after game 4 against LA.

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As crazy as this sounds, I actually like the matchup better vs GSW than I did vs the Clips. GS never got us while we were at full strength, and they don't have DeAndre Jordan and Griffin, so look for James to attack the basket a lot more.

I certainly don't expect us to win, but I think we can make this more of a series than ESPN expects

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100% agree with the lack of rim protectors like LA had. Hopefully the lack of deep playoff experience throws the Warriors off.

Note: I know the Rockets don't have a ton but I'd say we at least have a slight advantage.

I fully expect Dwight to pound the boards like he did against Dallas. He won't have Deandre to deal with.

I would actually like to see us slow the game down and run more half-court sets. Against LA it was important to run the floor and not let them get set on defense. With GS I think we can use Dwight down low and Harden driving. Eat clock and bang it down low until they're forced to double Dwight. Then rain 3s

I hear California is in a drought. They need the rain.

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I want to believe Rockets in 6, but my gut is Warriors in 5. They have overmatched us all year long. Then again, no one gave us a shot after game 4 against LA.

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As crazy as this sounds, I actually like the matchup better vs GSW than I did vs the Clips. GS never got us while we were at full strength, and they don't have DeAndre Jordan and Griffin, so look for James to attack the basket a lot more.

I certainly don't expect us to win, but I think we can make this more of a series than ESPN expects

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100% agree with the lack of rim protectors like LA had. Hopefully the lack of deep playoff experience throws the Warriors off.

Note: I know the Rockets don't have a ton but I'd say we at least have a slight advantage.

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NBA Championship Experience

James Harden-Thunder
Dwight Howard- Orlando
Jason Terry- Dallas
Cory Brewer- Dallas

Plus Pablo played in Multiple championships in Europe if you want to count that

Losing in the finals is not championship experience. So scratch James and Dwight off that list.

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Losing in the finals is not championship experience. So scratch James and Dwight off that list.

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Hold On. Hold on.

This to me makes no since... You cant say that because they didn't win they didn't experience how difficult it was to reach the championship. Experience matters. Both Players reached the title series and have first hand knowledge of how difficult it is and what a team must do to reach it. You cant say their experience is for not just because they lost

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Losing in the finals is not championship experience. So scratch James and Dwight off that list.

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Gotta disagree. Experience is experience.

Lack of experience to advance to WCF hurt the Clippers.

Advantage Rockets. Don't forget Ariza on that list.

Rockets in 6.

Golden St8 H8

The rockets obviously have a glaring hole at PG when it comes to who is going to defend Curry? I don't think you can use Ariza, because I think you need Ariza on Klay, who has been the warriors' hottest 3-point shooter in the playoffs. Really I think what the rockets have to do is play Brewer 30+ minutes while defending Curry. If you let Steph go against Jet or effing pablo the whole game the rockets will get torched. Will be interesting to see if McHale sees it the same way.

maybe James Harden can perhaps play defense for an entire series and take it upon himself to guard curry

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The rockets obviously have a glaring hole at PG when it comes to who is going to defend Curry? I don't think you can use Ariza, because I think you need Ariza on Klay, who has been the warriors' hottest 3-point shooter in the playoffs. Really I think what the rockets have to do is play Brewer 30+ minutes while defending Curry. If you let Steph go against Jet or effing pablo the whole game the rockets will get torched. Will be interesting to see if McHale sees it the same way.

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The biggest thing in my mind that the rockets did in Game 6 and 7 was play CP3 the entire length of the court.

Curry will get his points. Kid is awesome. However, make it as difficult as possible. Get in his head. Let him know you will be there all night. Play him the entire court and guarantee you will see one or two mistakes from him as he gets flustered.

Jason Terry did a pretty dang good job on CP3 in game 6 during the big comeback. Not suffocating d but did a good job of staying in front of him and not totally letting him blow by and to the rack.

I'd give him a shot against Curry.

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Jason Terry did a pretty dang good job on CP3 in game 6 during the big comeback. Not suffocating d but did a good job of staying in front of him and not totally letting him blow by and to the rack.

I'd give him a shot against Curry.

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Agreed, but I think the main thing is rotating fresh bodies on Curry like we did Paul. Jet did much better than expected, at least making Paul work for his points. We aren't going to shut down Curry but if we can make him work then we have a chance.

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maybe James Harden can perhaps play defense for an entire series and take it upon himself to guard curry

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Not for a whole game. Not even LeBron can do that. Too exhausting and taxing when you consider the offensive load harden is going to have to carry. Maybe the last 2 minutes in a close game.

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The biggest thing in my mind that the rockets did in Game 6 and 7 was play CP3 the entire length of the court. Curry will get his points. Kid is awesome. However, make it as difficult as possible. Get in his head. Let him know you will be there all night. Play him the entire court and guarantee you will see one or two mistakes from him as he gets flustered.

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I agree with this. I think the best way to accomplish this is to play longer athletes who have a better chance of making him uncomfortable and throwing his shot off. Brewer and Ariza are the type of guys you need to put on Steph and Klay.

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Jason Terry did a pretty dang good job on CP3 in game 6 during the big comeback. Not suffocating d but did a good job of staying in front of him and not totally letting him blow by and to the rack.

I'd give him a shot against Curry.

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You can't play Brewer on Steph the whole game, so yes, Terry is also going to have to guard Curry. I would just try to maximize the amount of time Brewer is guarding him because I think longer/quicker defenders like Brewer bother Curry the most.

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Agreed, but I think the main thing is rotating fresh bodies on Curry like we did Paul. Jet did much better than expected, at least making Paul work for his points. We aren't going to shut down Curry but if we can make him work then we have a chance.

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Yes, rotating bodies and also making him drive repeatedly are critical. He's a smaller guy that wants to shoot 3's, you need to make him play in traffic and get physical with him and try to wear his legs down just a little. I would actually go against conventional wisdom and sell out against the 3 on him and make him drive into the paint repeatedly. He will expend more energy that way, you have more chances to foul him clean but hard, and even if his shots go in, they are just 2's and not 3's. Rockets have to push the boundaries on legal contact and physicality and make him as uncomfortable and tired as possible. Can't let him just run around wherever he wants, dribble, and shoot 3's all night. I think Brewer gives the rockets the best chance to do that.