The Golden State Warriors will be out to continue their extraordinary push for home-court advantage in the first-round of the playoffs when they host the Houston Rockets at Chase Center on Sunday.
After impressive back-to-back wins over the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets, the Warriors are starting to gain serious attention as a legitimate playoff threat despite having been under a .500 record at the end of January.
The Warriors have a clean injury report against the Rockets
While so many teams have lengthy injury reports at this late point of the season, Golden State will stunningly have everyone available for Sunday's crucial game. Jonathan Kuminga returned from a pelvic contusion with an impressive performance against the Lakers on Thursday, while Gary Payton II returned from a torn ligament in his thumb during Friday's win over the Nuggets.
Payton did only play two minutes in the game, making for some intrigue on his role and the Warrior rotation moving forward. With up to 11 players who could all warrant legitimate minutes, head coach Steve Kerr will be left with plenty of questions on different lineups and combinations on Sunday.
Those questions should leave us with plenty of answers on what the playoff rotation could look like, with only five games remaining in the regular season and all of which will have huge implications on seeding results. Jabari Smith Jr. is the only player on the injury report for both teams, with the former third overall pick dealing with a right ankle sprain.
Golden State are 21-5 since the arrival of Jimmy Butler, and rank second only behind the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder in net rating since February 7. Yet if there's another team who are in similarly great form, it's the Rockets who have an incredible 16-2 record since March 6 and have solidified their hold on the second-seed in the West.
As impressive as Golden State's back-to-back wins may have been, Houston's most recent win over OKC may have been an even bigger statement. The Rockets snapped the Thunder's 11-game winning-streak with a 125-111 victory at Toyota Center, with Jalen Green dropping 34 and Alperun Sengun going for 31 in the 14-point win.
The two young Rockets stars haven't had much success against the Warriors in recent times though. Green averages just 11 points on 27% shooting in his last five games against Golden State, while Sengun averages under 20 during the same period.
Stopping that pair will be crucial for the Warriors in a game that could center around the defensive excellence of both teams. Golden State have ranked first in defensive rating since February 7 as Draymond Green pushes his DOY case, while the Rockets have ranked third behind noted defenders like Dillon Brooks, Amen Thompson and Tari Eason.
Golden State have won 16 of their past 17 games against Houston, with the only loss coming in the quarter-finals of the NBA Cup where they collapsed down the stretch to a 91-90 defeat.