Rockets and Warriors Advance to NBA Western Conference Finals

After the first two rounds of the NBA Playoffs, the two best teams in the Western Conference during the regular season advanced to the conference finals. On May 8th, the Houston Rockets eliminated the Utah Jazz and the Golden State Warriors did the same to the New Orleans Pelicans, both in the fifth games of the series.

While the Jazz and Pelicans had great seasons, and are teams on the rise, the Warriors and Rockets are clearly the current heads of the class in the highly competitive West. Injuries limited Golden State’s Stephen Curry to 51 regular season games but he’s back in form now, scoring 28 points in the Game 5 clincher. The Warriors won both their playoff series in five games; they beat the San Antonio Spurs in the first round. With all the pieces in place once again, Golden State is a playoff series away from returning to the Finals for the fourth straight year and a shot at a third NBA championship in four years.

If the Warriors do return to the Finals, they’ll have to go through Houston to do it. The Rockets, with the NBAs best regular season record (65-17), have home court advantage and were 34-7 at home. MVP candidate James Harden led the NBA in scoring, averaging 30.4 point per game, and was third in assists with 8.8 per game. Harden was with the Rockets when they lost the 2014-15 conference final to Golden State in the Warriors’ run to the title that season. Harden also was on the losing end of the NBA finals as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2011-12 when the Miami Heat won it all so he’s plenty motivated to take it to the very top this time. (Imagine what the Thunder would be like if Harden and Kevin Durant were still playing in Oklahoma City with Russell Westbrook).

The Warriors were 1-2 in the regular season against the Rockets, and were 1-1 in Houston. The home victory was way back in the October 17th season opener. The Western Conference Finals open on May 14th.