Houston was one of the most optimistic NBA cities in the league until late Tuesday night. The Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies provided fans with a thrilling play-in game last night, one in which the former squandered a 20-point lead before holding on to win, 121-116. Now the Warriors will face off with the Rockets in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, with game one on Sunday in H-Town.
Steph Curry is 4-0 in playoff series vs. Rockets 🍿 pic.twitter.com/ZInEh3N9D5
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 16, 2025
To the untrained eye, it’s easy to look at the Rockets as the No. 2 seed and the Warriors as No. 7 and think it’s no big deal. However, Golden State isn’t your typical seventh seed and they’ve been the biggest roadblock for Houston in recent playoff memory. Stephen Curry has never lost a playoff series to the Rockets and of the four he’s won, two of those came in the WCF.
The Warriors have dominated the Rockets in the playoffs
While the Rockets played much better against the Warriors in their most recent matchup, a 106-96 Houston win, doing that four times in a series won’t be as easy. In that game, Curry had one of the worst shooting games of his career, making just 1 of 10 shots from the field and scoring three points. As good as Amen Thompson (primary defender on Curry) and the Rockets' defense has been overall this year, it’s hard to see them doing that again to Curry in multiple games.
Now you also add Jimmy Butler to the mix, who only scored 13 in that same game but seems to already be in full-on, playoff Jimmy mode looking at his last two games. In the season finale against the LA Clippers and play-in game against the Grizzlies, Butler scored a combined 68 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds. Butler’s playoff heroics over the past few years speak for itself.
This is what a young Rockets team is up against. Some people will tell you experience is overrated until the lack thereof comes back to smack them in the face. Knowing how to play and the pressure of the postseason is something most of Houston’s core has never dealt with. Of course, you’ve got Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks and Steven Adams, but we know what they bring.
The Rockets’ fate could rest on the shoulders of Jalen Green, Alperen Şengün, Amen Thompson and others getting their first taste of playoff intensity. Golden State also took the season series 3-2 this year, but that isn’t the end-all be-all. What it boils down to is the Warriors being the boogie man for this Rockets franchise, dating back to the James Harden era. If Houston is to overcome that, the young pups will need to step up and lead the way to victory.