Houston Rockets Playoff Primer: How Far Can James Harden Take Them?

Mar 31, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) during the first quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 31, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) during the first quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 26, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard Lou Williams (12) dribbles the ball during the first half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 26, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard Lou Williams (12) dribbles the ball during the first half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

Prediction

My unbiased opinion strictly based off evidence and facts is that the Houston Rockets will yet again fall short of the NBA finals. They will lose to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, but not after an incredible battle. I see this series going to six and maybe even seven games. At the end of the day, their defense won’t be strong enough to stop Steph, Klay, KD, and their most glaring mismatch, Draymond.

Ryan Anderson will be forced to matchup with Draymond, who will be licking his chops. While each game will be an entertaining, fire powered, high paced raiting wet dream battle, opponents scoring 110 ppg on the Rockets will come back to bite them. Golden State was 3-1 against the Rockets in the regular season, while scoring an average of 118 points in those games. The last two games Kevin Durant wasn’t even playing.

By no means will this be a failure of a season for the Houston Rockets if this holds true. It’s possible that they end up with the MVP of the league (Harden), the coach of the year (D’Antoni), the 6th man of the year (Eric Gordon / Lou Will), and some people even have votes for Patrick Beverly being defensive player of the year (including himself).

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They shattered multiple NBA records and set the trend for how offenses will play with fast pace and high volume shooting in the future of this league.