'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
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.
#2 Chris Paul vs Stephen Curry
CP3 was MONEY in the last 2 games of the Semifinals series against the Utah Jazz. He scored 68 points in total on 55.6% shooting from the field and 53% from the 3-point line. Moreover, nearly all of his points came from pull-up situations, where he generated space off the dribble and went up for the shot.
Curry was the steals leader in the 2015-16 season, but he's not the best of players in terms of on-ball defence. Guarding the Point God will be the ultimate test for him, as the Warriors will not be able to spare Klay (who'll be guarding Harden) and give Curry an easier assignment on defence. Curry was mercilessly picked apart by various Rockets in the closing stretches of their January 20th showdown in the regular season, and you can expect much of the same in this series.
CP3 is one of the best on-ball defenders at the point guard position to ever play the game, but then Stephen Curry also happens to be the greatest shooter of all time. The best that Paul can do in this scenario is not bite on Steph's dribbling manoeuvres and force him into contested shots, but Steph averages north of 40% on contested 3-pointers for his career as well, so that's not something the Rockets can live with.
Expect Chris Paul to reduce Curry's efficiency through the course of the series, but don't let it fool you into thinking that Steph won't get his own share of the Warriors' points.
#3 Trevor Ariza vs Kevin Durant
To a great extent, this is a one-sided matchup as Ariza is not a big scorer. However, Ariza also happens to be a solid defender, who the Rockets have leaned on for that aspect for a while. Nobody on this planet can shut down Kevin Durant or even stop him from scoring 20 points on his worst night, so Ariza has a job on his hands.
But he can make the best of it by getting really close to Durant and preventing him from getting a comfortable mid-range jump shot off. Getting close to him will force Durant into going for his dribble, and if he continues to stay close and funnel him towards Capela on Durant's drive, that is an outcome the Rockets can live with.
On the other end, Ariza is mostly a spot-up shooter who capitalizes on assists from the likes of Harden and Paul. If he does get hot early on in the series, that will force Kerr to factor his effectiveness in while prepping the Warriors' defence. Durant will be forced to move more into the perimeter instead of being a constant shot-blocking presence from the weakside, and this will directly affect the Warriors' defensive schemes.
#4 Clint Capela vs JaVale McGee
Capela was the second coming of Dikembe Mutombo in the last 2 games of the series against Utah Jazz, tallying a total of 11 blocks in those outings - complete with the finger-wagging at the end of Game 4. He's possibly the most underrated player in the NBA currently, as in back-to-back series he has dominated centres who were thought to be better than him (Towns and Gobert), but he's not in the conversation for the Most Improved Player award (which does belong to Oladipo indisputably).
In this series, Capela will be forced out on to the perimeter much more often, and his shot-blocking numbers will take a hit. The Warriors' points in the paint come mostly off dishes to cutters from drives as well, so again, unless Capela is able to predict such moves, he's not going to get those blocks. But then, Capela has demonstrated that he's possibly the most comfortable centre in the game in terms of defending the perimeter, and his footspeed will stand him in good stead on switches.
The Warriors have mostly relied on a combination of different centres so far, and it is difficult to predict who they line up as a default centre in this particular series. But given Capela's ability to finish at the rim, it is quite likely that they will need an athletic big to guard him, and given how green Jordan Bell has looked so far in the playoffs, they will probably field JaVale McGee as their starting centre.
McGee did quite well in the limited playing time he had against the Spurs, and at times he looked like it was him setting the defensive tone for the Warriors - particularly in Game 1. However, he will probably be in sixes and sevens when he's switched out onto the perimeter to guard Chris Paul or James Harden.
#5 PJ Tucker vs Draymond Green
The brickhouse that is PJ Tucker is one of the most versatile defenders in the league, alongside teammate Luc Mbah a Moute and his opposite number at the 4 slot, Draymond Green. Tucker was spectacular for the Rockets in the series against the Jazz, as he averaged 11.8 points and 6.8 rebounds while shooting a spectacular 52% from downtown.
In this series, Tucker will be tasked with guarding a number of different players at various points in the game, while being asked to knock down triples with Draymond Green running him down. Expect his shooting percentages to fall back onto the ground, as Green is the best shot-contester in the entire league.
On his part, Green has been the most consistent Warriors player when we factor in his spectacular display on both sides of the floor. He became the first Warrior ever to average a triple-double in a playoff series, and he did that against a Pelicans team which regularly used Anthony Davis to defend him.
Green can impact the game in a variety of different ways, and barring a major shooting slump, he will be a tough guy for the Rockets to stop. If he does manage to knock down open 3-pointers at the rate that he did in the 2015-16 season, expect the series to end in 4-5 games at best.
Guess the Lakers players!
