Warriors have advantage in battle of West’s best
The baby-faced Assassin vs. The Beard.
Of course, the Western Conference Final pitting the Golden State Warriors against the Houston Rockets beginning Tuesday in Oakland is much more than just Stephen Curry against James Harden, but what a juicy subplot that will be, whether they spend much time guarding each other or not.
There was nobody better than either of those players during the regular season, hence, why they got the most MVP votes. Curry won out. Harden supporters felt he was robbed. Now, he’ll get a chance to make that case.
While Curry and Harden have not been as good in the playoffs (Harden shot just 39.8 per cent against the Clippers in the West semifinal, Curry just 42 per cent against Memphis), they have certainly had their moments and turned it up when it was necessary to put away their opponents (Harden had 31 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in Game 7 against Los Angeles; Curry had 32 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and eight three-pointers in Game 6 against Memphis). Despite their dips, only Anthony Davis has averaged more points per game during these playoffs than Curry (28.2) and Harden (26.7).
While Houston showed incredible heart in battling back from a 3-1 hole to upend the Clippers after toying with Dallas in Round 1, Golden State has been able to power past the singular force that is Anthony Davis (a four-game sweep of New Orleans) and the stellar team defence of the Grizzlies (opponents only topped 100 points 16 times after Jan. 1 against the Grizzlies, but the Warriors did it three times in six games).
Both squads love to launch threepointers (the Rockets averaged an NBA-high 11.4 makes, the Warriors ranked just behind at 10.8 made per game) but Golden State was far more efficient, hitting on a leaguebest 39.8 per cent, vs. Houston’s 34.8 per cent (just 14th overall).
The only danger of a Houston upset would be if the Warriors get goaded into devastating foul trouble. The Rockets thrive on taking opponents out of their game. Only Sacramento attempted more free throws and Houston attempted 5.2 more freebies a game than the Warriors, who seldom get to the stripe. That said, it gets harder to earn calls in the post-season and Golden State is fine with playing a physical style.
While both teams are known primarily for explosive offensive capabilities, the Warriors led the NBA in defensive efficiency and Houston ranked No. 6. Both have lockdown defenders in the middle (Dwight Howard for Houston, Andrew Bogut for Golden State), Swiss Army knifes covering ground (Trevor Ariza and Draymond Green) and productive, two-way tweeners (Terrence Jones and Harrison Barnes).
If the series turns into a shootout, Golden State has a big edge.
If it turns into a slow, grind-it-out, foul-marred slog, Houston can hang around, but the Warriors have home-court advantage, the best player, more depth, better health and a far more efficient squad.
This shouldn’t be all that close.