The Golden State Warriors shouldn’t feel threatened by the Rockets

After the Warriors’ 124-114 victory over the James Harden-less Houston Rockets, the Warriors shouldn’t feel threatened by them.

Daryl Morey, the Houston Rockets general manager, has said that he’s “obsessed” about beating the Warriors.

It makes sense that he is obsessed with beating Golden State because they are the defending champs and have won two championships in the last three years. The Warriors have had the Rockets’ number the past couple of years beating them four games to one in the 2015 Western Conference Finals and 2016 Western Conference first round.

Draymond Green, the Warriors ‘heartbeat’ and one of the players who talks the most trash in the whole association had an intriguing quote after the Warriors 124-114 win on Thursday night in Houston.

Per Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) of The Athletic:

The keyword in this comment from Green is brilliant.

Green’s playing style is centered around emotion and fire. He also has no problem with taking subtle (or not so subtle) shots at his opponent. There is a slight sarcasm of the word meaning “of course, that’s what you’re supposed to think.”

Green and the rest of the Warriors should not feel threatened by a Rockets team that gave up 124 points on Thursday night with one of the Warriors’ top scorers on the bench.

Houston is a great mirror image of the Warriors with three point snipers around the perimeter, several players that could switch multiple positions and two of the best players in a backcourt with James Harden and Chris Paul.

However, there are a few exceptions and differences between the Warriors and Rockets.

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The Rockets might be second to the Warriors in offensive rating at 112.9, but the Rockets are 12th in defensive rating at 104.9. Compare that to the Warriors, who are the best in offensive rating at 113.1, and are third in defensive rating at 102.2 (via stats.nba.com).

Last night in the fourth quarter, the Warriors went on a 16-1 run to pull away from the Rockets. Much of that run involved locking in on the defensive end and getting stops.

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The Warriors have the ability to “flip a switch” on defense and focus on that end of the floor by getting stops that set up more opportunities for their historic offense to work its magic through the shooting strokes of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant.

The Warriors and Rockets can trade three-pointer for three-pointer, but a seven-game series requires multiple defensive stops in crunch time, which has been something the Warriors have shown in the playoffs and the Rockets have not been able to.

Maybe the Rockets improve dramatically defensively before the playoffs and start playing their best basketball during the postseason. Maybe the Warriors go on a cold streak shooting the ball and that pulls momentum toward the Rockets’ side. Or a catastrophic injury to one of the Warriors’ stars could put Houston in the driver’s seat.

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But at the moment, the Warriors should not feel threatened by the Rockets and their three-point shooters and a solid, but not stifling defense. The Rockets would have to put four games of brilliant basketball together to dethrone the defending NBA champs.