Rivalry: Rockets show they can challenge Warriors’ dominance
HOUSTON — Late Monday night, after escaping Toyota Center with a Game 7 win over the Rockets in the Western Conference finals, the Warriors’ celebration was decidedly tame.
Instead of reveling in their fourth straight NBA Finals berth, most players voiced relief for having survived their biggest scare since losing to Cleveland in the 2016 Finals. In outlasting Houston in a seven-game gauntlet, Golden State shed its air of invincibility, showing that it is, in fact, beatable.
Along the way, the Rockets cemented their status as the biggest threat to the Warriors’ burgeoning dynasty. Nearly a year after Houston general manager Daryl Morey told ESPN that “we might up our risk profile” to dethrone Golden State, the Rockets boast a mix of skill, toughness and bravado that, if groomed properly, could put an end to the Warriors’ joy ride sooner than many thought possible.
“Obviously, Golden State has set the bar for the whole league, not just us,” Houston head coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We know where we have to go. We feel like we’re
really close, and we just need a good summer of work.”
To eke out a 101-92 victory Monday in Game 7, the Warriors needed Stephen Curry to power another third-quarter blitz, helping them erase an 11-point halftime deficit. They needed the Rockets to shoot 7-for-44 from threepoint range, including a streak of 27 missed threepoint tries. They needed Chris Paul, Houston’s emotional leader, to sit out with a strained right hamstring.
Even if the Warriors make quick work of the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals for their third championship in four years, many will point to Paul’s injury as the timely break that allowed Golden State to wrestle free of the Rockets’ stranglehold. Paul, not odds-on MVP favorite James Harden, had willed Houston to wins in Games 4 and 5.
Without Paul’s tenaciousness and playmaking ability in Games 6 and 7, D’Antoni was forced to extend a thin rotation, hoping that his team could steal a victory from the defending NBA champions with Joe Johnson and Ryan Anderson playing meaningful minutes. The Rockets stormed to double-digit halftime leads in both games, only to fade down the stretch.
After Monday’s Game 7 loss, guard Eric Gordon told reporters that Houston would
“Obviously, Golden State has set the bar for the whole league, not just us.” Mike D’Antoni, Houston head coach
have reached its first NBA Finals since 1995 had Paul been healthy. That such a proclamation couldn’t be dismissed as mere bluster only underscores how far the Rockets have come in less than a year.
In June, when plenty of NBA front offices chalked up Golden State — fresh off a 16-1 postseason — as unbeatable and began lengthy rebuilds, Morey traded seven players and a first-round pick for Paul and then signed P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute in free agency. It was a gutsy push to go all-in on chasing the Warriors now, instead of waiting for Golden State’s four All-Stars to age out of their prime.
But to have a chance at testing a team so loaded, Houston needed more than a roster makeover. It had to ignore the pundits and believe it was capable of outlasting the Warriors in a seven-game series.
Fueled by a chorus of skeptics, the Rockets won a league-best 65 regular-season games before going 8-2 through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Unlike many teams, which would have wilted after losing homecourt advantage with a Game 1 loss in the conference finals, Houston responded with a 22-point rout of the Warriors in Game 2. Two nights after enduring their most lopsided postseason loss in franchise history, the Rockets came from behind to win Game 4.
“I have so much respect for their organization, what they’ve done this past year, coming out and aiming for us,” Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said. “They compete. They played both ends. They got a lot of toughness, a lot of grit, and we were lucky to escape out of here.”
The question now is whether this season was a one-time opportunity for Houston or the start of a great rivalry. In coming weeks, Morey must decide what to do with three unrestricted free agents (Paul, Mbah a Moute, Trevor Ariza) and one restricted free agent (Clint Capela).
Capela, 24, seems a nobrainer to return to the Rockets on a max deal. Bringing back Paul, Mbah a Moute and Ariza — all of whom are entering their mid-30s — probably will require the right contract terms, in both years and money.
If Houston can keep the core of its roster intact and use the mid-level exception on another shooter capable of spacing the floor, it should remain Golden State’s biggest competition in the West. And who knows? Perhaps this time next year, the Warriors will be voicing dismay, not relief.
“I’m obviously optimistic because of the guys we’re dealing with, and they’re winners,” D’Antoni said. “You keep knocking on the door, and they’ll eventually open.”