Golden State Warriors: Outside reflection on WCF series vs. Rockets

Former Blue Man Hoop writer Segun Giwa shares his thoughts on the Western Conference Finals series between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets.

Written entirely by Segun Giwa, who once again forces me to edit his stuff.

To be honest, I kind of missed this feeling. The feeling of anxiety heading into a playoff game. The feeling of not knowing if your team will pull out a series victory.

Think about it. If you’re a Golden State Warriors fan, when was the last time the Warriors faced any type of real adversity before these Western Conference Finals? There hasn’t really been a time since Kevin Durant got here. Of course you want your team to win, but this is what playoff basketball is all about:

The best basketball players in the world going at it on national TV, with NBA Finals marbles on the line.

This is going to be a major blow to my ego, but I have to admit I was wrong: I didn’t take the Houston Rockets as seriously as I should have.

Led by soon to be MVP James Harden, Chris Paul, and Mike D’Antoni, we shouldn’t be surprised that the Rockets, who finished the regular season with the highest offensive rating of all time, gave the Warriors everything they could handle in the seven-game series.

They steamed rolled teams throughout the season, embarking on a collision course to the Western Conference Finals with one goal in mind: taking down Goliath.

Everyone who picked a sweep or gentlemen’s sweep for Golden State should have seen this coming. With so much at stake in this series, we should not have expected Houston’s trinity to roll over so easily. They weren’t scared of the Warriors. They have too many battle-tested veterans. They prepared all season for this moment.

Harden is now 0-3 in the playoffs vs. Golden State, and many of the playoff-related slander he continues to receive came from moments vs. the Warriors (see Game 2, 2015 Western Conference Finals).

Paul is in his first ever conference finals after years of ill-timed injuries, in addition to playing with teammates unable to carry their own weight.

D’Antoni has never made it to the NBA Finals, and he’s has had to coach with the stigma that he can’t co-exist with high profile stars.

Despite the negative playoff reputations Houston’s trinity had, they rose to the occasion. Harden averaged 29 points in the series, carrying his offense for stretches when role players shots weren’t falling. He even played good defense towards the end of the series, using his size to bully Warrior ball handlers.

Paul showed his excellence as a two-way player, outplaying his matchups with Curry for much of the series while hitting big shots and even one big shimmy.

D’Antoni outcoached Kerr throughout the series, something he hasn’t been known for doing since his days with the Phoenix Suns.

The Rockets played a tough series, but one thing I refuse to engage in is a “what if” game of hypotheticals. D’Antoni and Eric Gordon were on record after the game saying they would be playing on Thursday had Paul not hurt his hamstring in Game 5. NBA Twitter was quick to point out spotty officiating. Some even swore the games were rigged.

Let’s be honest with ourselves here: Paul is a 33-year-old, 5-foot-11 point guard whose body has a knack for breaking down come playoff time. It sucks, but it shouldn’t have been that surprising that the minutes and usage required from a player of Paul’s skill in the playoffs resulted in an injury.

The same people screaming about the riggedness of the officiating are the same ones who flamed Ayesha Curry for making a similar sentiment during Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals.

The referees didn’t force Houston to miss 27 straight threes in Game 7, nor did they force Harden to miss the most threes by a single player in a playoff series in NBA history.

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Don’t @ me. Save the excuses. The better team won.

The absence of Andre Iguodala also tends to get glossed over. Golden State could have really used his calming presence, and his injury prevented the use of the Hamptons 5 and resulted in minutes for Kevon Looney, Nick Young, and Quinn Cook.

The Warriors overcame much adversity during the Western Conference Finals. Golden State had to battle through its stars struggling at different points of the series, injuries, questionable coaching decisions/rotations etc.

Houston, however, did prove to be a worthy opponent, despite the doubts of Warrior fans and players. Many of the Houston players had tears in their eyes as the clock hit 0:00 last night. Harden himself didn’t shake any of the Warrior players hands, bolting to the locker room as soon as the buzzer sounded.

The NBA is in store for a landscape-changing summer, and I have a feeling GM Daryl Morey and the Rockets organization may be right in the middle of the chaos, gunning for yet another shot at Golden State next year.

Next: 8 Takeaways from Game 7 in Houston

You can follow Segun on Twitter over at @_segungiwa to show your support for this post.

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