Many already hoped for the Matchup Rockets -Warriors during the Regular Season and spoke of the early finals. That these “finals” would go as far as game 7 was probably only their guess. Now it’s up to Harden and Co. to refine their record season in their home arena and break the mini-dynasty of the Warriors. Match 7 in Houston goes live on DAZN at 3am.
“If, in the summer, when we were all together in the Bahamas, we were offered Western Conference Finals Game 7 against the Golden State Warriors, we would have accepted it,” James Harden said after the lost Game 6 in Oakland, probably telling one hundred percent the truth.
Having said that “Harden and Paul will never harmonize” before the season, Game 7 in the Conference Finals against the Warriors can be considered an absolute success without any digressions. And all this in your own arena. Since the Durant era, the Dubs have only lost three play-offs in total – as many as they have against the Rockets in a series.
That’s why Harden sees reaching the finals as more of a chance than a duty: “There is no pressure. It is an opportunity, an opportunity that we are happy to be a part of. If we win, we win. “If you don’t, don’t.” Nevertheless, of course, the beard knows that a lot is at stake.
If you take the last few years as a benchmark, Game 7 will probably remain tight and competitive until the end. If every posession decides, ball loss is the last thing you may allow yourself. In game 6 the Rockets felt this all too well with 21 turnovers. “We have to make better decisions and take better care of the ball,” warned D’Antoni during a training session on Sunday.
The second half of match 6 was reminiscent of last year’s Rockets Team: when it mattered, Harden grabbed the ball, directed his shooters to the outside, dribbled deep into the shotclock and finally went into the 1-1 against the defender – but mostly without success. If CP3 is again not ready for action, the support cast of the Beards has to come on the schedule in these moments, but Harden has to prove himself finally that he is a worthy MVP, who trusts his fellow players. LeBron James did it in the East.
It has been said for years that he is not available in the important positions and unfortunately there is (so far) a lot of truth to it. Elimination Game 2015 in the Oracle Arena: Clear 14 points at 2/11, 0/3 from behind the triple line. Similar picture last year: Game 6 of the semifinals against the Spurs, Harden out of the field again with ten points at 2/11. And also in Game 5 of the current series Harden completely disappeared (5/21) and can deeply thank his fellow players for winning the game anyway.
Now it must be up to Harden to punish his critics in the most important game of his career to date. The Point Guard may not do credit to “choken”, nor to his nickname Haren (because of the missing D(efense)).
The Warriors, on the other hand, have unusual problems in this series in finding their rhythm early in the game. That was already the case in game five (17 points in the first quarter) and also repeated itself in the victorious game 6 (22 points in the first). “If you have any ideas, please let me know. I have no idea why our team is like this,” criticized Steve Kerr after game 6.
However, once again the Dubs dominated the second half and scored 64-25 for the Rockets – a trend that has continued throughout the series. While GSW got 20 points off the Rockets in the first half, they always took back 74 points from Bart and Co. in the second half. Especially in the third quarter, the team from Oakland was an absolute power in this postseason.
After pushing a 33-16 quarter into Houston in game 6, the reigning champion scored 113 points (!) in the third quarter of these playoffs. If Steve Kerr’s team can repeat this in the Toyota Arena, it will be very difficult for the Rockets, but it’s also a game of fire for the Warriors.
With 65 victories in the Regular Season, Houston not only set a new franchise record, they may also have laid the foundation for a place in the finals. The home advantage can be a huge advantage for the Rockets and this was also expressed in numbers during the playoffs: The much-loved and urgently needed threesome falls better at home (36.1 percent as opposed to 33.5 % away), the net rating is much higher (5.4 to -3.8) and above all the momentum factor plays a very important role.
“We have an entire city behind us,” James Harden said after Game 6, and perhaps more importantly, the Warriors don’t have that. Nowhere else in the NBA is the atmosphere as charged as in the Oracle Arena. At any moment you have the feeling that this hall is just waiting to burst with emotions to catapult the team to astronomical heights.
So seen in Game 6, when Curry and his entourage after a (again) messed up first half came ridden like the savages from the half-time break and played the helpless Rockets into the ground. A 50-50 call in favor of the Warriors here, a curry-three here and swish – the Oracle Arena burned fast and Golden State put down a 12-0-run in three minutes. Game.
But seen differently in game 5 in Houston. Although the Warriors managed to run smaller runs over and over again, they did not stand out from the Rox in these phases. One reason for this were the 18,023 fans in the Toyota Center, who now have to play the game of their lives in Game 7 to carry their team towards sensation.