2018 NBA Playoffs: 5 factors that will determine the outcome of the 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.

In a tactical battle between two great coaches, we will see a number of interesting tactical plays by the pair of them. Some of them are fairly obvious to the average fan and onlooker, and they will play a huge factor in determining who will emerge victorious from this series and take on the Eastern Conference champions in the Finals.

Let's take a look at 5 of these pivotal, series-altering factors:

#1 Will Stephen Curry be switched onto by the Rockets?

Stephen Curry's defensive deficiencies were put under the microscope in the closing stages of their previous regular season game, which the Rockets went on to win 116-108. Harden knocked down one of his signature step-back threes in the 12-4 run the Rockets made late in the game to close it out.

While Curry is not an objectively bad defender, he is liable to gamble for steals on occasion. His footspeed is also run-of-the-mill, and once a player gets by him, the Warriors have to send help defense and risk breaking down completely for the possession.

The Cavaliers employed the same tactics in the 2016 NBA Finals to great effect, continually pitting Curry as the primary defender against Lebron and Kyrie. Currently, Chris Paul and James Harden are balling out, and Curry will probably be toast against these two ballhandling wizards.

#2 How will Capela defend the 3-point line?

Houston Rockets v Minnesota Timberwolves - Game Four

Clint Capela has been one of the better two-way players in these playoffs, averaging 14.4 points, 12.2 rebounds, 1.0 steals and a league-leading 2.8 blocks per game through 10 games. In a shootout against the Warriors, however, Capela will be tested to the limit as the Warriors are probably the best offensive team to ever step on an NBA court, both talent-wise and statistically.

Quite often Capela will be switched onto the likes of Kevin Durant and Steph Curry outside the 3-point line after a ball screen by either McGee or Draymond Green (depending on who's playing center at the time). While Capela is fleet of foot and has the ability to match both of them step-for-step if they maneuver past him, he won't be able to contest their shooting (Hint: No one can).

Does he then respond by giving up position and allowing them to go past him off the bounce, or will he continue to give up those jump shots?

#3 Who will guard Kevin Durant?

The Rockets made some shrewd moves on the free agent market and via trades this offseason, the most notable of which was the record-breaking Chris Paul trade. They added Luc Mbah a Moute, PJ Tucker and later on, Gerald Green and Joe Johnson. And yet, there is one glaring weakness in their team (although they're by no means unique to this).

In addition to dealing with Golden State's mesmerizing ball movement, fast pace, and 3-point shooting, what the Rockets will have to contend with is the ultimate cheat code possessed by the Warriors - Kevin Durant. The Slim Reaper is the most unguardable player on the planet, as he has every single offensive skill sorted and can score a bunch of points in a very short spell of game time.

His mid-range game, however, is what sets him apart from the rest of the elite scorers, as he can just shoot over literally anyone guarding him - we saw a prime example of that in Game 5 of the Warriors-Pelicans series when even Anthony Davis with his 7'6" wingspan was unable to contest or block his jump shot.

Luc Mbah a Moute, PJ Tucker and Trevor Ariza are all forwards who can match up against him, but Tucker is too slow to deal with his driving game and Ariza is too slim to guard him on post-ups. Only Mbah a Moute is capable of slowing him down somewhat and forcing him to use his mid-range excellence, but he hasn't generated enough offense in the limited minutes that he's played in this postseason to warrant a guaranteed starting berth.

Mike D'Antoni is having a headache solving this very problem as you read this.

#4 Whom will the Warriors field at the center position?

The Warriors have faced up well with the challenge of guarding LaMarcus Aldridge and Anthony Davis in the two series that they've played so far. Granted, they didn't slow them down even a bit on the offensive end, but they prevented both of them from having too great of an impact on the defensive end.

JaVale McGee did some of his best defensive work in these two series, but he may be too error-prone to keep inside the ball game for extended stretches in a series that will test the Warriors to the limit. Zaza Pachulia has yet to receive significant minutes, having made a comeback only in the Pelicans series.

Perhaps the best way to deal with Harden's and CP3's lobs to Capela is to field rookie Jordan Bell in the starting lineup. Bell looked up to the task in the limited playing time he got in the regular season, and his defensive instincts are somewhat better than McGee's, without sacrificing anything in athleticism.

#5 Will the Rockets' bench be effective enough?

While on paper the Rockets' bench looks quite solid and ready to deal with the competition posed by the Golden State bench, they have, by and large, underperformed in this postseason.

Eric Gordon is averaging 12.9 points per game, but his field goal percentage stands at a lowly 34.9% while his three-ball is just not efficient anymore (31.4%). Ryan Anderson is yet to receive meaningful minutes, having only played a total of 67 minutes in 6 appearances while averaging 3.2 points per game.

Joe Johnson is yet to come off the bench even once, despite having signed for them mid-season on this premise. Nene's ability to finish at the rim has dipped with his increasing age, and he's playing lower minutes than ever before.

Their only bench player to make a consistent impact in the playoffs so far is Houston-bred Gerald Green. The 32-year-old has provided a spark off the bench and has the ability to guard multiple positions while knocking down 3-pointers consistently.