Rockets, kumpiyansa sa Oracle Arena

HOUSTON (AP) — Magaan ang pakiramdam ng Rockets matapos magwagi sa Warriors at maitabla ang Western Conference finals sa 1-1.

Ngunit, ang tunay na hamon ay magaganap sa Linggo (Lunes sa Manila) sa Oracle Arena kung saan target nilang tuldukan ang NBA- record tying 15 straight playoff games ng Warriors.

Alam ito ni Houston coach Mike D’Antoni, ngunit hindi ang marka bagkus ang kabuuan ng pagiging koponan ng Golden State ang alalahanin ng Rockets.

“The challenge is you’re playing Golden State. That’s why they’ve won 15 in a row. Not because of the building, but because they’re good,” sambit ni D’Antonio.

“All these players are used to playing in hostile environments ... it helps a little bit (but) sometimes you feed off the energy also from the other crowd. So you try to take them out as soon as you can and take out the crowd.”

“It’s definitely a great place to play,” sambit ni Trevor Ariza. “Their fans are great. They bring a lot of energy to the game. At this point there’s nothing like playing in that type of environment and trying to silence them.”

Isa si Ariza sa dahilan sa matikas na 127- 105 panalo ng Houston sa Game Two sa natipang 19 na puntos, matapos ang malamyang laro sa Game One kung saan nalagay siya sa foul trouble.

Ngunit, ang tagumpay sa Game Two ay nagbigay ng morale sa Rockets.

“Yeah, just because we know we’re more than capable of it,” sambit ni James Harden. “We’ve just got to go out there and do it every possession.”