Happy holidays everyone! One of my favorite family traditions throughout the years has been hunkering down in our living room and watching hoops for hours on end. The Christmas Day NBA marathon is good fun for the whole family. For the last half-decade, the Warriors vs Rockets match up would have been the marquee matchup of the day. However, times have changed. Let’s breakdown what we’ll be watching after all of our presents have been opened.
Warriors vs Rockets: The Good Old Days
Steph, Klay, KD, Harden, CP3. Heated trash talk, intense playoff games, and some serious pettiness. That is what we have been used to when these two teams have gone to battle lately. Even though the NBA knew KD would be gone, I’m sure they assumed they would still be getting a star-studded match up for their Christmas Day slate. If they had known that the Warriors would have the worst record in the NBA and that Steph and Klay would be injured, I doubt they would have willingly put them on national TV. Regardless, these two squads are still going to square off on December 25th, but we will most likely be forced to watch a blowout. Not only have the Warriors really been struggling, but the Rockets will be out for blood.
Playoff History
The Warriors have owned the Warriors vs Rockets matchup for the last five years, eliminating them from the playoffs four out of those five seasons. They easily took down the James Harden/Dwight Howard Rockets in 2015 and 2016 while they were on their way to establishing their dynasty.
Then in an epic seven game series in 2018, the Warriors crushed the hopes of Houston fans. They took advantage of an injury to Chris Paul and came back from a 3-2 series deficit. The Rockets spent all of last season talking trash, complaining about the referees, and claiming that if Paul never got hurt that would have won the series. They toted the slogan “Run it back”, not shying away from their desire to match up with the Warriors again. They got their wish in the second round, but oh boy did it backfire. This time, a fully healthy Rockets squad lost to a Warriors team without KD. They watched Stephen Curry once again end their season in their own arena in a deciding Game 6.
The New-Look Rivalry
The point of that little history lesson was to show that the Rockets and Warriors have some serious history. It has been such a one-sided rivalry that the Rockets are going to be walking into the Chase Center on Christmas licking their lips, ready to get some easy revenge.
They won’t have to face Steph, Klay or KD. Instead they will see D’Angelo Russell, Glenn Robinson III, and Eric Paschall (if the star rookie is healthy enough to play). The Rockets also have a different look, having swapped out Chris Paul for Russell Westbrook.
Funny enough, Westbrook has as many reasons to hate the Warriors as anyone on the Rockets. The Dubs knocked the Thunder out of the playoffs in 2016, and then stole away Westbrook’s costar in KD, throwing a serious wrench into Westrook’s career arch. Since the Warriors signed Durant, Russ has yet to win another playoff series.
Predictions:
Christmas is supposed to be a day that brings people together, but the Rockets will not be showing the Warriors any mercy. Here are a few bold and not so bold predictions for the game.
-Harden will score at least 45 points.
-Russ will record a triple double, including at least three furious dunks.
-The Rockets will get up by 20 before halftime, and win by at least 15.
-Regardless of the score, the Rockets will complain to the referees non-stop.
–Clint Capela will catch a lob from Harden, and then flex like he made the post-move of a century (this is something he does regularly, and it drives me crazy. It’s not difficult to catch a wide-open lob with no one around you because they are all focused on Harden).
Enjoy the show! I may think that it will be a blowout, but I hope that it is a close, exciting game. Even if it is not, there are four other great Christmas Day matchups for us to enjoy.
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