Golden State Warriors: Houston Rockets emerge as new foe
The Golden State Warriors will have a new challenger in the Western Conference as Chris Paul and James Harden are teaming up with the Houston Rockets.
The Golden State Warriors went a perfect 12-0 in the playoffs before the NBA Finals. The Dubs took the stronger Western Conference and beat them up. They made it look easy.
For the last three years, the Warriors have owned the entire league, especially the West. They were dominant before Kevin Durant. Now you throw a top-three player in the world into the mix and they become nearly impossible to beat.
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The Houston Rockets have gone all in on trying to keep up with them. Chris Paul agreed to opt-in to the last season of his contract and the Los Angeles Clippers will be trading him to the Texas team. In return, they will get Patrick Beverly, Sam Decker, Lou Williams, and a first round pick.
This trade will create one of the best duos in the sport today in Paul and James Harden. It will surely make them one of the best backcourts in the league, right up there with Golden State’s Splash Brothers. Basically, Houston just got really good.
The Rockets were already one of the best offensive teams in the league last season. After just one year, Mike D’Antoni changed the culture in Houston. He had Harden playing at an MVP-level once again.
It’s far too early to know who is going to be a contender and who isn’t. Free agency hasn’t opened yet and the regular season is still months away. Still, it’s hard to imagine that the Rockets’ talent won’t be good enough to secure them a high seed.
We don’t know how Paul and Harden will co-exist, but they wanted to play together so we’ll see them make efforts to make it work. Both are ball dominant players that will need to make adjustments to their game. Harden just spent a season excelling while playing point guard and now will have to slide back to the off-guard position.
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The Warriors have owned the Rockets and Chris Paul for the last few years. But now they are going to combine their powers and try to take the Dubs down. They’re probably going to have some growing pains, but it’s not hard to imagine that they’ll be in the Western Conference Finals.
They still have other moves to make, but as of right now, they are not better than the Warriors. Still, it’s nice to see a team go for it (looking at you, Boston). And Chris Paul and James Harden in D’Antoni’s up-tempo offense should be fun, especially if Paul looks for his shot more.
Warriors in five.