Mike D’Antoni: Rockets are ‘obviously the underdog’ against Warriors

It’s only the Western Conference finals, but many experts believe the matchup between the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors will essentially determine the National Basketball Association championship. Despite already losing more games during this playoff run, the Warriors are still the Goliath that the rest of the league is looking to conquer.

As for Game 1, the Rockets are favored by 1.5 points at home. It my be even more hard that people expected.

Most of the stars came ready to play.

Here are the keys to victory for the Rockets in Game 1. The team is so stacked with talent, it probably could have made the conference finals without him. They play with exceptional confidence. “He can get any shot he wants”.

“It was just a learning experience for us on how to be successful on the road in a hostile environment during the playoffs”, Stephen Curry said of the 2014 series.

Houston’s best hope hinged on the fact that Curry might not be close to 100 percent in the Western Conference Finals. It seems as though he’s picked up right where he left off as well, and if he keeps rolling like this, the Warriors are going to be tough to take down.

Game 2 is Wednesday night in Houston. After a Steph Curry [VIDEO] basket, Harden hit another three giving the Rockets a nine to two lead.

When the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets kick off the Western Conference Finals on Monday, the Rockets will hold something over the Warriors that no team over the past four years has enjoyed: home-court advantage. That changed when they signed Durant, with whom they’ve gone 24-3 in the playoffs.

“It’s definitely nice to be taking action on the Celtics”, Caesars Palace sports book director Frank Kunovic said. “(But) we don’t have it. “The guys who are playing heavy minutes for us all feel pretty good and they are all ready to go”. Golden State took out the Pelicans in the last round in 5-games, and hope that their experience, talent, and superstars will make short work of Houston and get back for yet another Finals’ appearances. Durant was just a complete monster in Game 1. “We’ve got this far doing that and having that mindset, so we’re just going to continue with it”. “I thought he was extremely good. We can’t withstand turning the ball over and giving up so many wide open 3s”.

The Warriors still led 87-80 after three thanks to a massive third quarter from Kevin Durant. That includes his inexplicably bad Game 6 performance when the Rockets were eliminated by the Kawhi Leonard-less Spurs in last year’s second round. They had to face a red-hot Kevin Durant.

They ended up sorting out the jump on the second try.

Draymond also could be seen chastising the refs after an offensive foul call later in the first half.

Chris Paul was outshined by Curry once again. Gordon added 15 points off the bench. I like Green because scoring is not his focus. That isn’t the highest average asking price for a single game during the series, though. And with Golden State featuring its usual brand of ferocious half-court defense, the Rockets didn’t have almost enough firepower. (Thunder-Warriors notwithstanding.) Houston has assembled a roster it believes can finally challenge Golden State’s supremacy in the West.

Sunday, May 20: Houston at Golden State, 8 p.m. The Warrior lead would grow to double-digits, 83-72, on a Kevon Looney dunk with 3:34 remaining in the quarter. We expect players, teams, and organizations to abide by some abstract moral code. He had a quiet finale against the Jazz, but scored at least 37.5 fantasy points in six straight prior to that.

As mentioned, the Celtics were able to shut down the Cavs in Game 1, winning 108-83 in style. How far do they go?