The Houston Rockets did everything they could to try and defeat the Golden State Warriors but in the end it simply wasn’t enough. The Warriors rode their star power in game seven to a 101-92 win, setting up a fourth matchup with Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.
The Warriors were down by as many as 15 points in the game and faced an 11 point deficit at halftime. Then the third quarter of doom happened, when the Warriors have routinely snatched the hearts of their opponents all season. It was no different in game seven as they outscored the Rockets 33-15 in the third quarter. Steph Curry dropped 14 of his 27 points in the quarter and Kevin Durant took over when it mattered most, scoring 21 points in the second half, including a key segment in the fourth quarter where he scored six quick points in isolation to put the game out of reach. Durant finished with 34 points.
The Rockets shot a terrible 7-44 from three point land and it was obvious a lot of the misses were attributed to fatigue. It’s not easy trying to guard the Warriors and still have the energy to run your own offense, especially when the Rockets don’t have a deep bench. Not having Chris Paul due to his pulled hamstring didn’t make things any easier.
It didn’t start bad for the Rockets, however. There were times in the first half that they seemed in control and had the Warriors stressing. Klay Thompson picked up his third foul in the first quarter and it was looking like things were snowballing out of control. Then as halftime approached, it was starting to become clear the Rockets didn’t do enough to knock the Warriors down. Despite being in control most of the first half, they only led by 11 points going to the break and most people watching knew that a lead like that wasn’t going to get it done. It didn’t take long into the third quarter for that to be proven correct.
That 11 point deficit was actually the largest lead overcome by a road team in a game seven in NBA postseason history.
James Harden went down swinging, finishing with 32 points but shot 12-29 and essentially vanished in the second half as shots continued not to fall for himself and his teammates.
Of course all of this has now setup the fourth installment of the Warriors/Cavs Finals. The matchup will be the first time in any of the major sports in North America that the same two teams played for the championship four years in a row.
Lebron James has almost seen it all at this point but he has never seen his team be this much of an underdog. Vegas opened Golden State as a -1,000 favorite to win the best-of-seven series, which tips off Thursday. The Warriors are the largest Finals favorites in at least 16 seasons. The Cavs opened as a +650 underdog in the series. The Warriors are also 12 point favorites to win game one, which is tied for the highest spread since 1991. The 2001 Lakers with Shaq & Kobe were 12 point favorites over Allen Iverson’s Sixers team. Interestingly enough, the Sixers won that game, although that was the only game they won that series.
On paper, The Finals definitely appear to be an easy win for the Warriors and deservedly so. They were expected to be here again and they have the firepower to take out any team in NBA history but if it was that simple we wouldn’t need to play the games. Lebron James is not someone you want to completely bet against, even when the odds appear stacked against him. If any player is capable of making the series more interesting, it’s James but overcoming Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and more may prove to be just as impossible as it was last season when he had more help. One thing is for sure, however. If Lebron can somehow pull off this upset, the GOAT debate is likely over forever but even if it’s unfair, another Finals loss will be held against him by some.
My prediction: Warriors in Five. Tip off is Thursday, May 31st.
Written By @IamJoeSports
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