The Warriors Should Stop Taking the Rockets Lightly

Stephen Curry, who currently has an injured ankle, had a birthday bash ahead of his monumental 30th birthday tomorrow. It appears that his Warrior teammates joined in on the fun, and had a little too much fun to come to work the next day:

By canceling a scheduled practice because they are in “recovery mode,” the Warriors are signaling that they do not have an ounce of doubt they will have a cakewalk to the NBA title. Clearly, the Warriors believe that there is not a single team in the NBA that stands a chance to beat them four times in two weeks. But they are wrong.

Have the Warriors checked the NBA standings lately? At the same time they were celebrating off land, they were falling down the standings two games to the Houston Rockets.

In reality, that two-game lead the Rockets currently hold is actually a three-game lead because they won the season series over the Warriors 2-1, clinching the tiebreaker.

The Rockets have 15 games left in the season. In their last 15 games, they went 14-1, and the 15 before that, 12-3. It is more than reasonable to suspect that the Rockets may not even lose three more games this regular season.

If the last 30 games were not a good enough indication, how about a 35-2 record when James Harden, Chris Paul, and Clint Capela are on the court together?

Not only should the Western Conference Playoffs going through H-Town be scary for the Warriors, but what the Rockets have shown this season should be humbling Steve Kerr’s squad immensely. The Rockets have displayed the greatest offense ever.

The Rockets are giving up fewer points per game, beating teams by more, rebounding better, turning the ball over less, forcing more turnovers, making more 3-pointers and free throws per game, and well, are winning more. Depth is also not on Golden State’s side as their bench has been pedestrian at best this season.

The Warriors have made it clear that they feel that they will be going to their fourth straight NBA Finals, but if they continue that mindset, they could find themselves easily down 2-0 going back to Golden State in the Western Conference Finals.

While the Warriors players may be counting on facing past playoffs versions of James Harden and Chris Paul, they shouldn’t: this version of the Houston Rockets are arguably the toughest team the Warriors have faced since they launched their dynasty nearly four years ago.

Not worried yet, Warriors? Not last night.