Tweet
Records: Warriors (59-14); Rockets (51-22)
Can the Warriors limit James Harden? Game planning for the Rockets always starts with Harden, who is in a two-man race with Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook for NBA MVP. Harden is already the first player since the 1983-84 season to record at least 30 points and 10 assists in 26 games. To earn the most recent Western Conference Player of the Week, he averaged 33 points, 13.3 assists and 6.3 rebounds per game. Harden is a master at scoring beyond the arc and near the basket. The Warriors, led by a committee of Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, have done a solid job on him this season, holding Harden to 14-for-36 shooting (2-for-15 from three-point range) over his previous two meetings with Golden State.
Can Andre Iguodala continue to impress? When Patrick McCaw replaced the injured Kevin Durant in the starting lineup, the Warriors knew they needed more of a scoring punch from their bench. Enter Iguodala. The 33-year-old swingman is averaging 11.6 points per game in March on 61.8 percent shooting (44 percent from three-point range). After totaling just 41 dunks over the first four months of the season, he already has 24 in March. And he has done all that without sacrificing his facilitating ability or tenacious defense. Head coach Steve Kerr went so far as to call Iguodala, who needed only eight shots to score 20 points in Sunday’s win over Memphis, Golden State’s best player the past few weeks.
Can the Warriors lock down the perimeter? Houston has made 1,070 three-pointers, eight shy of breaking the NBA single-season record of 1,077 Golden State set last season. Just how much do the Rockets rely on three-point shooting? Their NBA-record 2,942 three-point attempts this season are 488 more than any other team. So quell Houston’s long-range exploits, and you have a good chance of getting the win. In their 125-108 victory over the Rockets on Jan. 20, the Warriors held Houston to 7-for-35 shooting from beyond the arc. The Rockets’ trio of long-range marksmen — Harden, Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson — combined to miss all 13 of their three-point attempts. In the third quarter, with the Rockets going 0-of-10 from three-point range, Golden State turned a five-point halftime lead into a 20-point cushion. The Warriors lead the league with an opponent three-point shooting percentage of 32.8.
Can the Warriors limit James Harden? Game planning for the Rockets always starts with Harden, who is in a two-man race with Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook for NBA MVP. Harden is already the first player since the 1983-84 season to record at least 30 points and 10 assists in 26 games. To earn the most recent Western Conference Player of the Week, he averaged 33 points, 13.3 assists and 6.3 rebounds per game. Harden is a master at scoring beyond the arc and near the basket. The Warriors, led by a committee of Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, have done a solid job on him this season, holding Harden to 14-for-36 shooting (2-for-15 from three-point range) over his previous two meetings with Golden State.
Can Andre Iguodala continue to impress? When Patrick McCaw replaced the injured Kevin Durant in the starting lineup, the Warriors knew they needed more of a scoring punch from their bench. Enter Iguodala. The 33-year-old swingman is averaging 11.6 points per game in March on 61.8 percent shooting (44 percent from three-point range). After totaling just 41 dunks over the first four months of the season, he already has 24 in March. And he has done all that without sacrificing his facilitating ability or tenacious defense. Head coach Steve Kerr went so far as to call Iguodala, who needed only eight shots to score 20 points in Sunday’s win over Memphis, Golden State’s best player the past few weeks.
Can the Warriors lock down the perimeter? Houston has made 1,070 three-pointers, eight shy of breaking the NBA single-season record of 1,077 Golden State set last season. Just how much do the Rockets rely on three-point shooting? Their NBA-record 2,942 three-point attempts this season are 488 more than any other team. So quell Houston’s long-range exploits, and you have a good chance of getting the win. In their 125-108 victory over the Rockets on Jan. 20, the Warriors held Houston to 7-for-35 shooting from beyond the arc. The Rockets’ trio of long-range marksmen — Harden, Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson — combined to miss all 13 of their three-point attempts. In the third quarter, with the Rockets going 0-of-10 from three-point range, Golden State turned a five-point halftime lead into a 20-point cushion. The Warriors lead the league with an opponent three-point shooting percentage of 32.8.