The Golden State Warriors became the third team to punch their ticket to the conference finals after the Cleveland Cavaliers did on Monday and the Houston Rockets finished up just before a Game 5 113-104 win over the New Orleans Pelicans to close up the series.
Knowing that a collision course with the Rockets awaits them in a few more days, Draymond Green noted Houston’s obsession with getting past them in the playoffs, but warned that the talking would be done on the court, not through microphones.
“They have made it known that their team is built to beat us,” said Green, according to Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated. “Their obsession, or whatever you want to call it, it is what it is… That stuff has been said for about a year now. It’s time to play.”
The Rockets have been building this machine for years now, subscribing to general manager Daryl Morey’s siren song of threes, frees, and layups, but it only has become this effective after Mike D’Antoni’s second year at the helm, able to hand-pick his players and acquiring a Hall-of-Fame-caliber point guard in Chris Paul.
Houston won the season series 2-1, including a season-opener down-to-the-wire outing that they celebrated as a sign of progress.
Historically though, the Warriors have breezed through the series 4-1 in 2015 and 2016, going 6-0 at home against a James Harden-led Clutch City.
This time around might be different, though — with a roster composition designed specifically to dethrone this team and pick apart every opportunity to carve a lead.
The post Draymond Green on Rockets’ obsession to beat them appeared first on ClutchPoints.
