5 Things that must happen for James Harden and the Houston Rockets to reach the NBA Finals in Orlando
At the start of this NBA season, the Houston Rockets were tipped to be one of the favourites to make it to the NBA Finals.
However, their new acquisition Russell Westbrook took some games to acclimatize to the Rockets' 3-pointer-heavy offense. Not a natural shooter by any means, Westbrook took some time to figure out how to coexist as an off-ball threat and once he did, the Houston Rockets started to roll.
GM Daryl Morey swung one of the riskiest mid-season trades in NBA history by trading away center Clint Capela. But the move seems to have worked with the Rockets going on a run of wins in the games following the trade.
James Harden has been an MVP candidate for 6 straight seasons now. The last time a player of his caliber played for the Houston Rockets, a certain 7-foot center won two championships for Clutch City.
In the trio of seasons before this one for the Rockets, the insurmountable task to make the NBA Finals was to get past the KD-powered Warriors.
With that monumental task safely out of the way this season, the Houston Rockets stand as good a chance as anyone in the Western Conference to go all the way in the NBA Finals. But for a surefire chance of winning it all in the NBA Finals, the following 5 events need to happen:
5 things that should happen if the Houston Rockets are to make the NBA Finals
#1 Avoid the Los Angeles Clippers before the Conference Finals
While the Lakers may have the best record in the Conference, they are not the kind of match-up nightmare for the Rockets the Clippers are. Kawhi and Co. represent threats from all 5 positions on the floor, and they have a defensive presence as stifling as any in the league when locked in.
If the Houston Rockets come up against the Clippers, the latter team have the defensive trio of Patrick Beverley, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George to throw at Russ and James Harden. The Clippers also have a dominant small-ball center in Montrezl Harrell to field against the small-ball Houston Rockets, whose tallest player will likely be Robert Covington. 37-year-old Tyson Chandler is not going to cut it in the playoffs.
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#2 Face the Utah Jazz/Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round
Currently seeded sixth in the Conference and due to face the Denver Nuggets, the Houston Rockets will be hoping to jump up one or two places. This will allow them to come up against the Utah Jazz or the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of playoffs. The Thunder are possibly the weakest Western Conference team to be in the playoff picture, with virtually no chance of making the NBA Finals.
On the other hand, the Houston Rockets had the measure of the Jazz in their meetings during the 2018 and the 2019 playoffs. While the Jazz look stronger in 2020 than in the two seasons before, they will sorely miss the shooting and playmaking of Bojan Bogdanovic, who's out with injury.
#3 Robert Covington and PJ Tucker play out of their minds
Robert Covington has consistently been one of the league's best defenders over the course of the last 5 seasons. His ability to switch onto any position and put the clamps on was invaluable to the Sixers when they made the playoffs in 2017-18. The hope for the Houston Rockets would be that Covington also brings his best shooting touch to Orlando, as the 6'9" wing has been a bit off from long range for the past couple of seasons.
PJ Tucker is the other player expected to play heavy minutes as the center in the Houston Rockets' lineup. Tucker, who stands at 245 lbs and 6'5", is going to be a huge mismatch on offense. But he will find it really tough to hold his own against the burlier centers of the Western Conference who might come up against him - the likes of Nikola Jokic and Rudy Gobert will spell trouble for him.
#4 The role players hit wide-open 3-pointers
After missing Eric Gordon, their best volume shooter, for nearly half the season, the Houston Rockets will be glad to have him back on their ranks. The Rockets will need the shooting guard to step up big time in the playoffs, in order to capitalize fully on the open shots generated by Russ and James Harden.
The Houston Rockets also have the likes of Jeff Green, Danuel House, Austin Rivers and Luc M'bah a Moute in their ranks. All of the aforementioned players will have to hit some big shots to keep the Rockets in play, in addition to playing out of their skins on defense.
#5 The Milwaukee Bucks lose to the Celtics, the Raptors, or the Sixers
The Milwaukee Bucks hold the best record and are the favourites to win it all in the NBA Finals for a reason - they have the most well-rounded roster. They have surrounded Giannis with capable shooters - even their best big man (Brook Lopez) is a quality 3-point shooter. They generate even more wide-open 3-pointers than the Rockets themselves, which could be a huge problem for the Houston Rockets if the two teams meet up in the NBA Finals.
The Bucks do have their weaknesses, however, and the likes of the Sixers and Celtics are well-positioned to take advantage of these weaknesses. While Daryl Morey will be hoping that his own Houston Rockets don't slip up, he would surely be looking at the Eastern Conference and hoping that the Greek Freak isn't in the NBA Finals.
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