Rockets Close Road Trip Against Wobbling Warriors
Dream Ending. Hustle Battle. Successful Trip.
Not many people expected the Rockets to win more than two games on their current five-game road-trip, but the squad’s exceeded expectations. As Houston arrives at their final stop on this journey, in the Bar Area, they’re winners of three of their last four games. And on Friday night they’ll be facing a Golden State Warriors team who’s struggled since All-Star Klay Thompson returned to the lineup after missing nearly two years with injuries. The Dubs have dropped six of their last nine games, including a brutal three-hour overtime-thriller at home to the Indiana Pacers last night. The Warriors will be without Klay Thompson tonight, who’s still working his way back into NBA-shape. It’s Golden State’s third game in four days, and the second of a back-to-back, and the Warriors won’t be risking anything with one of their cornerstones of their franchise, at least not in the regular season.
Today happens to be Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon’s birthday. Olajuwon is the greatest player in Rockets franchise history. The Dream led the team that won back-to-back Championships, and yet he’s still one of the most underrated great players of all time, in my opinion. His name isn’t mentioned enough when people list their top players of all time. This current Houston team will look to end this road trip with a dream victory over the team that knocked them out of the playoffs several times last decade. A win would give the Rockets a 4-1 record on this road-trip, which no one saw coming before this journey started.
Along with Thompson, Draymond Green remains out with an injury, and Andrew Wiggins is questionable heading into tonight’s matchup with a sore left foot. So the Warriors could be extremely short-handed on Friday night. They’ll likely have a lot of guys on the court fighting to prove they deserve more playing time. And Golden State’s coming off a tough three-hour game last night, so it’ll be interesting to see what their energy level is like against the Rockets, who still hold the worst record in the Western Conference. Regardless, whoever wins the hustle battle tonight, likely prevails as the victor. If Houston can pounce on the Warriors early, they can potentially wear them down if the game gets close in the clutch. The Rockets still have to deal with Stephen Curry, who will be playing tonight. Curry scored 39 points to lead the Dubs, and can win a game by himself if he’s having a hot shooting night. If Houston leaves it all on the floor like they did in Utah… they have a good chance at exceeding the expectations of onlookers once again.
Chase Center: San Francisco, California
Jersey Colors:
Houston Rockets (14-32): Red
Golden State Warriors (32-13): White
Tip-Off: 9 PM CT
TV: AT&T Sportsnet SW, NBA League Pass