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stage is set! how are we feeling about this first round matchup

all things considered, Rockets feel the most beatable team for us in the post-season, so this would be a good series to win and build momentum. Playoff Jimmy is here in full force, and Kerr's finally taken kumbuckets out of the rotation

predictions? Starts off neck and neck 2-2, but the Warriors star power overwhelms them and we take it in 6 close games

Jester_ wrote:stage is set! how are we feeling about this first round matchup

all things considered, Rockets feel the most beatable team for us in the post-season, so this would be a good series to win and build momentum. Playoff Jimmy is here in full force, and Kerr's finally taken kumbuckets out of the rotation

predictions? Starts off neck and neck 2-2, but the Warriors star power overwhelms them and we take it in 6 close games

Poll for predictions?

I think we win in 5 maybe 4 not sure yet, especially with the games so spread out (4 games in 8 nights) to start.

Kuminga has been effective against the Rockets in their previous games. If there is a series you'd expect Kuminga to be useful in it would be against the Rockets. If the Warriors were to lose the series and Kuminga didn't play because he was kept off by Kerr, by all rights Kerr should be fired.

Their last game is known for how the Rockets limited Steph to 3 points but looking at gameflow data the bigger issue may have been how Butler and Podz were neutralized.

Warriors in 6 where they lose one of the games by 35.

I think Rockets end up winning 4-3.

Watching the last 10 games or so, it looks like Warriors are missing one key piece for a real run.

Onus wrote:Poll for predictions?

sure added one

dk1115 wrote:I think Rockets end up winning 4-3.

Watching the last 10 games or so, it looks like Warriors are missing one key piece for a real run.

We're missing a bench sparkplug i think. That's always been a core piece of every championship run we've ever had. Poole, Speights, Barbosa, Livingston, etc

we're basically praying for Kuminga/Post/Hield to average out to a reliable bench scorer....

We’ve seen the rocket’s game plan against Steph last game against them. Kerr and team will adjust. We have rocket’s numbers and they are young. Dubs in 6.

I have the Warriors in 6 but the Rockets could win if Sengun has a consistently good series.

Something nobody's mentioning is Udoka has coached against both Curry/Draymond/Kerr in the Finals and Butler in ECF so he knows what Curry and Butler can bring in those types of series and what you can and can't do against them.

Butler looking to score and get to the line vs facilitate changes this matchup from the last game since he only took 7 FGA with only 4 FTs.

I could see either team win this series but that to me would mean Golden State's role-players brought nothing which I don't think will be the case the whole series.

I also expect to see Kuminga back, I think it'll be a series-by-series situation with him. If he's not back then something else has happened behind closed doors as in Kuminga expressing his anger with the benching's but he's had 4 seasons to get better in the offseason to force Kerr to play him, very rarely do the best players not get to play. If Kuminga could quit his tunnel vision on offense, play as a defensive role-player and just score off of passes instead of iso'ing, he could be a great help, but if he doesn't, he's probably going to hurt the team.

I went with 5. Feel like there's going to be some bs ref game where the Rockets get 1.

Rockets in 6. I'd always rather be happily surprised than depressingly optimistic.

ahmetmekin wrote:Warriors in 6 where they lose one of the games by 35.

That sounds about right to me.

Just hoping they escape without Brooks taking anyone out.

I do think Kuminga needs to play in this series though. If you don't want him in the closing lineup in a tight game, fine, but you can use what he brings, and he has played well vs. Houston.

But the Warriors whole post-season will be defined by how much Podz, Moody, Hield, Post, and (maybe?) Kuminga step up.

Teams are going to continue to hunt jb3 and steph on defense. Podz, moody, post, and hield are going to have to be ready to knock down those open shots. I've got dubs in 6.

whatisacenter wrote:I have the Warriors in 6 but the Rockets could win if Sengun has a consistently good series.

I think Dray will basically decide this series - he’s the only one who could contain Sengun

1 of Hield/Podz/Moody needs to have a good series for us to win. Do I think this will happen?...

Jester_ wrote:

whatisacenter wrote:I have the Warriors in 6 but the Rockets could win if Sengun has a consistently good series.

I think Dray will basically decide this series - he’s the only one who could contain Sengun

Looney actually does the best job against Sengun

Might go to 7 games if the Ws rotation isn't right. Agree with Kuminga needing playing time for the matchup.

Weirdly enough I see Hield being a significant factor during this series onwards. If he can get hot it would take a ton of pressure off Curry, who's playing against father time and the hand injury right now.

I’ll go Dubs in 7.

Definitely a chance we can finish it early if we start the series off great. But also wouldn’t be shocked if out of these two bad shooting teams, they get hot for a couple early games and win in 6 or 7.

Either way, this is what the Jimmy trade was all about. Get us into a series because at that point you can never count out Steph/Jimmy/Dray winning 4 out of 7.

Also, the dream path is alive…. Rockets > Wolves > Thunder (or maybe someone else?) > Celtics (and for some reason i think the Pacers could sneak in). All really good teams but those are probably all the good teams we happen to play well against.

Rockets finished the season on a three-game losing streak, which is weird.