2018 NBA Playoffs: 5 Matchups that will dictate the Warriors vs Rockets Western Conference Finals
The Western Conference Finals this year is slated to be the most exciting Conference Finals matchup in recent memory. The Rockets are coming off a historic regular season campaign, stacking up 65 wins for the first time in franchise history after seamlessly weaving together the transcendent talents that are Chris Paul and James Harden.
The Warriors, on the other hand, are the defending champions of the league. By all accounts, they have been the cream of the league for the large part of the last 4 years. Under Steve Kerr, they play a brand of unselfish basketball and ball movement that makes watching even their blowout wins an enjoyable experience. Nor are they light on the win count, having won over 80% of their games this season with a fully-fit Fantastic Four.
This Rockets team has been loud-mouthed in the way they have wanted this series to come to fruition, with Daryl Morey saying he built his team to beat the Warriors. Let's take a look at the 5 most important matchups of this series.
#1 James Harden vs Klay Thompson
Harden is the MVP for the regular season, and he's carried his form over to the postseason in the 10 games that the Rockets have played. The wily shooting guard is still averaging 30 rebounds and 8 assists, and he will be a nightmare for Klay Thompson to defend.
In the 2016 Finals, we saw Klay exert his best effort on Kyrie Irving, and it wasn't even close to enough. Irving averaged 27.1 points per game on 46.8% shooting from the field and 40% shooting from behind the 3-point line. That is pretty much what we will see happen this series, despite Klay's relentless defence. Harden can beat him off the dribble and get to the rack, while there is no defence for his step-back 3-pointers and his mid-range game.
On the other side of the coin, however, Klay Thompson is one of the most tireless runners in the league, ranking third in distance covered per game at 2.87 miles. It wouldn't matter if Harden matches him step for step, however - once Klay comes off a couple of screens and hits nothing but net from 3, that will play with Harden's psyche and will send D'Antoni into a tizzy on who to put on Klay duty.
Shooting jumpshots isn't all that Klay does, either. He is great at improvising off the dribble if the defender does get close enough to stop him from spotting up. As a ballhandler, Klay can draw contact while finishing at the hoop, or even dish it out to cutters from the baseline.
While Klay won't be matching Harden shot for shot as he is not the Warriors' first option, it will be interesting to see how much he can slow Harden down.