Recently, many analysts have been saying that the rockets either don’t stand a chance against the warriors or that they’re going to just barely beat the warriors. Personally I think that the Rockets have a very good chance of beating the warriors, but that chance depends entirely on James Harden. During the regular season so far Harden has been almost the unanimous choice for MVP (Watch Bsolz video if you haven’t already) , but during the playoffs, he’s become known as one of the biggest chokers in the league. Honestly, do I even need to explain why everyone thinks he’s a choker after game six against the Spurs in last year’s playoffs. Hopefully, Chris Paul can take a bit of the offensive load off of Harden’s back. Also known for choking, Chris Paul doesn’t seem to help the Rocket’s chances of winning for many fans, but in all honesty, Chris Paul isn’t a choker, he’s simply had bad luck with injuries, trash teammates, and Doc Rivers; a coach that knows how to show family favoritism and blow a 3-1 lead. This article isn’t about that though, it’s more about the Rockets chances of winning, not Doc Rivers.
Let’s start with the offense. It’s no secret that Rockets offense is amazing, but would you believe me if I told you that the Rockets have the highest rated offense in NBA history according to Basketball Reference. Achieving this greatness primarily by switching bigs on Harden and Paul then a quick isolation with the mismatch. Harden doesn’t even need the mismatch, his highlights are composed of insane pull up threes and drives. I could talk about their offense all day, but you should honestly watch it yourselfs. It’s hard to do it justice with only text. Secondly, let’s not downplay Houston’s defense, ranked 9th in the league, they have a higher rating than the warriors. The defense has drastically improved with the budding rim protector Clint and the elite defensive trio of Paul, Luc, and Tucker. Defense is a very important aspect of the game and currently the Rockets have the #1 offense and #9 defense. I totally forgot to mention that the Rockets have the best record in the league, but whether they were first or second, it doesn’t change their chances of winning. With all of these facts, I honestly can’t see the Rockets losing in the playoffs unless Harden chokes yet again.
Sources: https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/defensive-efficiency
https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/tiny.fcgi?id=T5FWI