2 days Ago By ESPN
With a big win Tuesday night, the Golden State Warriors earned their spot in the NBA playoffs taking the No. 7 seed, setting up a matchup with the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets.
Houston is a familiar foe for Golden State. This is the fifth time the franchises have faced each other in a playoff series. The Warriors won all four previous matchups, which took place between 2015 and 2019.
Two of the series were in the Western Conference finals in 2015 and 2018, the latter of which Golden State won in seven games. Series Schedule Game 1, April 20: Golden State at Houston (9:30 p.m.
ET, TNT) Game 2, April 23: Golden State at Houston (9:30 p.m. ET, TNT) Game 3, April 26: Houston at Golden State (8:30 p.
m. ET, ABC) Game 4, April 28: Houston at Golden State (10 p.m.
ET, TNT) Game 5, April 30 (if necessary): Golden State at Houston (TBD) Game 6, May 2 (if necessary): Houston at Golden State (TBD) Game 7, May 4 (if necessary): Golden State at Houston (TBD) What to watch in Round 1: The Rockets and Warriors played each other five times this season. The Warriors won three of them, with their two losses coming in a one-point in-season tournament defeat at Houston in December and a 10-point setback on April 6 at Chase Center with Butler on the floor. The Rockets got physical with the Warriors, who were playing their fourth high-level game in six days in the meeting earlier this month.
Houston forced 20 turnovers and held Curry to 1-for-10 shooting and three points. The Warriors will have to figure out a way to free Curry of Houston's physical defenders like Amen Thompson and Dillon Brooks. But that is where Butler comes in.
He will not only have to help Curry with the scoring load, but also carry the critical non-Curry minutes. And then the 6-6 Green will have to find a way to contain 6-11 Alperen Sengun inside, especially on the glass, despite the height disadvantage. -- Youngmisuk What can Playoff Jimmy do for Golden State? Curry told ESPN in January that he felt that if the Warriors can avoid the play-in tournament, they can beat anyone in a seven-game series.
They'll now have to come out of the play-in as the No. 7 seed but the Warriors have "Playoff Jimmy", who took the Miami Heat to two NBA Finals appearances in four seasons. The Warriors won't need Butler to carry them the same way he did with Miami.
But if he can help Curry with the offensive load and close games while providing Green with a dynamic defensive duo that Kerr has likened to "Pippen and Jordan," the Warriors could make a run like they did in 2022, when they won their last title. -- Youngmisuk Best-case scenario: "Playoff Jimmy" reappears in conjunction with two of the other greatest postseason overachievers of the past two decades, Curry and Green. After beating Memphis in the opening play-in game, the Warriors upset the youthful Rockets and win a rematch against the Lakers in round two, then find themselves with a huge experience edge against Oklahoma City in the Thunder's first conference finals appearance since losing to the Warriors in 2016.
Reversing that series, Golden State closes out the series at home in Game 6 with Curry channeling Klay Thompson by scoring 41 points to send the Warriors to a seventh Finals appearance in his career. -- Pelton Net points X factor: The Golden State bench has actually outperformed its starters this season, contributing plus-1.6 net points per game to the starters' plus-1.
2. The Warriors are the only playoff/play-in team doing so. -- Oliver.
