The Golden State Warriors are set for an underwhelming Christmas Day game.
Christmas Day in the NBA is stacked with marquee matchups each year. Sadly, this season will be an underwhelming showing for the Golden State Warriors.
In fact, the NBA’s slate of Christmas games looks questionable in light of recent injuries. The New Orleans Pelicans will be playing without rookie sensation Zion Williamson while the Warriors are without Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
The Warriors will match up with the Houston Rockets. A familiar foe, the Warriors have eliminated the Rockets from the playoffs four times in the last five seasons. This showdown would usually be one for the ages, but with both rosters undergoing major changes, the results will be less than explosive this year.
Let’s start with the obvious. No Kevin Durant, Curry or Thompson in this game makes it a bust to begin with. Exciting young studs like D’Angelo Russell and Eric Paschall will make the game more interesting, but the Warriors hold a 6-24 record and could forfeit this battle without much of a fight.
The Rockets haven’t been great to start the year either. Houston currently sits at fifth place in the West and is still figuring out how to make the backcourt duo of James Harden and Russell Westbrook work.
Harden is having no trouble scoring. The 2018 MVP is averaging a career-high 38.5 points per game and has been virtually unguardable.
Meanwhile, Westbrook is beginning to heat up. In his last eight games, Westbrook has put up 26.6 points, 9.3 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game. He is still struggling from deep, shooting only 23.3 percent from the 3-point line.
Expect to see a ton of isolation basketball from the Rockets as Harden dribbles the Warriors to death. We may see Harden score a ton of points, but the actual rivalry itself will lack the fire and energy it used to have.