The Golden State Warriors seem like an undeniable rival to the Houston Rockets. After all, their 240 regular season matchups ranks GSW as the Rockets’ fourth most frequent opponent. You might be surprised to see that the Kings are their most played opponent, as seen on StatMuse.
A big chunk of these games came when the league was much smaller and the two franchises were much closer in distance. Back in the Rockets’ inaugural season they were located in San Diego, playing eight games against the San Francisco Warriors. A whopping amount that no doubt inflates the total numbers.
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Just through the Rockets’ four seasons in San Diego, they played the Warriors 27 times. Another six games in their debut year as the Houston Rockets, before finally getting to the normal 3-4 matchups a year that we’re accustomed to now, per LandOfBasketball.
Despite that seeming like ancient history now, the Rockets and Warriors have had battles much more recently than that. Yes, actually in this century.
This matchup has given fans some of the most memorable basketball in the past decade. With the Harden and CP3 backcourt taking the unbeatable superteam right to the brink of elimination in 2018, we saw the peak of an era.
I don’t think I’ll ever forget Kevin Durant taking multiple steps out of bounds and “saving” the ball for Stephen Curry to drain a clutch mid range jumper.
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Thankfully Harden silenced the crowd with a cold blooded triple while being sandwiched by Klay and Draymond. Let’s be honest he got fouled too. A truly unforgettable series of events.
We got to see that same kind of intensity get resparked by last seasons’ first round playoff series. Despite the young Rockets losing in Game 7, it was a great battle for the team. They showed how much growth they made after finishing in second place.
That performance in the season prior also played a significant role in Kevin Durant wanting to join the team. Coach Ime Udoka helped turn the franchise around after the rebuild, getting back into the playoffs for the first time since Harden’s departure. A fitting team to make a comeback against.
That might help explain why Stephen Curry has decided to make a comeback against his own, coincidentally enough, against the Rockets. There’s just something between these two teams.
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With the Warriors locked into the Play-In Tournament, Curry is trying to make the most of his team’s injury riddled season. The Rockets are looking to hand Golden State their fourth straight loss, inching themselves closer to regaining homecourt advantage in Round 1.
Tune into the late night action on NBC and Peacock for a classic matchup, previewed here on Roundtable.
