2018 Playoffs | Western Conference Finals: Rockets (1) vs. Warriors (2)

Golden State Warriors ready for toughest foe yet in championship path

Warriors' road to fourth straight trip to NBA Finals goes through Houston

This is a Western Conference chokehold not seen since the Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal Lakers, a run of dominance that could produce a fourth straight conference title and maybe a third NBA title as well. The Steve Kerr-led Golden State Warriors are indeed living well.

Except, the lone hiccup could be on the horizon.

The Houston Rockets perhaps have the best chance to do what others couldn’t: prevent the Warriors from playing into June. They loom as the greatest conference threat to the Warriors’ dynasty, a status that was anointed last summer when they grabbed Chris Paul, who blended well with resident ball-hawk James Harden, and that status remained unchanged since opening night when they beat the Warriors.

This isn’t the official NBA Finals, as much as the hype would like you to believe. But it is the People’s Playoff Series because there’s just so much to see. The chance of witnessing fun basketball is very high, along with a series that could go the limit.

But what’s really snatching everyone’s imagination and attention is the fair chance that the Warriors could … lose. Yes, the team that’s carving out a place among the best in the last two decades is about to be engaged in a stare-down, and as Kerr admitted, the Warriors are “definitely threatened” by what the Rockers are packing.

That said, the Warriors are 36-8 in the West the last three postseasons and only once faced elimination, so they do have that going for them (along with Draymond Green, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson).

Here’s how we rank the five most formidable West series/opponents for the Warriors in the Kerr era, four of whom could not pull off the series win. Will the fifth follow suit?

No. 1: Rockets vs. Warriors, 2018 West finals

The reasons Houston rates No. 1 on this list is fairly obvious, in case you’re just now tuning into the NBA season. They’re the only top-seed to see the Warriors in this run. Harden, Paul and Clint Capela are 50-5 together in the lineup. Collectively, the Rockets they bring the offensive punch that’s equal to or a shade better than the Warriors. And, lastly, Houston has home-court advantage and, of course, they were exclusively built for this.

Basically, they’re spooky.

The Rockets can cause a handful of potential matchup problems and the mad professor/coach Mike D’Antoni can sample three or four lineups designed to locate a Golden State weakness or vulnerable spot. The Rockets can run the floor, go half-court with pick-and-rolls and yes, you might have heard they can shoot 3-pointers. Virtually anyone who suits up with the exception of Capela can drill from deep, although some better than others.

And thanks to assistant coach Jeff Bzdelik, the Rockets’ defense is better than ever — although not quite at the Warriors’ level when the defending champs are locked in.

The Warriors can’t afford too many bad lapses because the Rockets can make you pay for your mistakes. And for the first time, the Warriors will start on the road to begin a West playoff series.

No. 2: Thunder vs. Warriors, 2016 West finals

Amazing when you consider how much of the Warriors’ legacy was riding on this series, in retrospect. If Oklahoma City doesn’t blow a 3-1 lead, maybe Durant stays and the shift in power strays from Golden State and the Durant-Russell Westbrook Thunder are the new bullies on the block.

But the Thunder did blow that 3-1 lead and here we are, with the Warriors making history while Westbrook is muttering to himself on his own private island.

The series came down to a pair of pivotal Game 6 moments: Klay Thompson going scorched earth at Oklahoma City while Durant and Westbrook brain-lock their way around the floor. After Thompson dropped a blistering 41 points in his greatest game ever, KD and Westbrook combined to shoot 20-for-58. Throw in three Westbrook turnovers in the final 55 seconds and OKC was totally numb getting on its plane to Oakland for Game 7. The Thunder weren’t mentally prepared for that flight or that game.

The one argument against putting OKC here at No. 2 is that it was the No. 3 seed and the Warriors swept the Thunder in the 2015-16 season series. But LaMarcus Aldridge disappeared after scoring 79 points in the first two games in the Thunder-Spurs West semifinals. Consider, too, that the Spurs perhaps would’ve been too clever to blow a 3-1 edge had they been in the same spot.

Since losing three games in that conference final against the Warriors, Durant has yet to suffer three playoff losses total with the Warriors.

No. 3: Grizzlies vs. Warriors, 2015 West semifinals

The Grizzlies in their “Grit-and-Grind” prime were once a headache for the Warriors because they slowed the game and pushed them around. Golden State averaged barely more than 100 points in this six-game series and the Grizzlies held a 2-1 lead at one point, becoming only the second team to gain a lead on the Warriors in a playoff series since the fun began in Oakland.

The signature play of the series was Curry’s three-quarters-court heave that beat the third-quarter buzzer and shell-shocked Memphis in Game 6, the series-clincher.

Before that, the Warriors bore the welts from too much Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. Fortunately for Golden State, Tony Allen suffered a hamstring injury, sparing the Warriors additional lumps (although the Warriors did expose Allen by letting him shoot as the series wore on).

Golden State next played the Rockets in the 2015 West finals, but this was the Harden-Dwight Howard squad that was already showing signs of self-disintegration. The Rockets didn’t put up a fight, losing in five games, and Harden was so miserable near the end that he shot two-for-11 in Game 5. So, no, that Rockets team doesn’t rate ahead of Memphis, even though they went further.

No. 4: Spurs vs. Warriors, 2017 West finals

Wait, a team that was swept gets the top-five treatment? That says plenty about the Warriors — who have flattened most challengers — and also about the circumstances regarding the Spurs in that series.

Well, actually, there was only one circumstance: Kawhi Leonard’s third-quarter Game 1 ankle roll that knocked him out of the series.

Historians will always remind you the Spurs were cruising at the time, leading by as much as 25 points and shoving the Warriors into an unfamiliar corner. Yes, it was just one game, yet the Spurs had Leonard, who was in the midst of an MVP-type season. And the Spurs also had sagely vets Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili and legendary coach Gregg Popovich, too.

But everything flipped when Leonard fell. The Warriors rallied to win that game by two points and Aldridge couldn’t carry San Antonio’s load the rest of the series. His solo act failed spectacularly as the Spurs were done for by Game 4.

No. 5: Pelicans vs. Warriors, 2018 West semis

What a difference a year makes. In May of 2017, New Orleans was sitting at home and wondering if its big man experiment with Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins would work. Fast-forward a year and the Pelicans entered this series without Cousins (Achilles) … but with a recharged Rajon Rondo and Jrue Holiday, a renewed Nikola Mirotic and a new style of play sans “Boogie.”

After sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, the Pelicans — if nothing else — presented an intriguing threat for the Warriors. Golden State had to game plan for a superstar in Davis while not neglecting his help — especially Rondo and Holiday, who had torched Portland’s guards.

The Warriors finally figured out the Pelicans in five games, although most of them had nervous fourth quarters. Perhaps Golden State’s motivation to keep the series as short as possible had something to do with the team waiting on deck.

Next up? That No. 1 threat.

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Veteran NBA writer Shaun Powell has worked for newspapers and other publications for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.

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