Before the All-Star break began last week, the Rockets won their 10th straight game while the Warriors lost for the fourth time in their last eight contests. Houston’s hot streak, combined with Golden State’s (relative) cold streak, moved the 44-13 Rockets into the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference by a half-game over the 44-14 Warriors.
It’s not the first time the Rockets have sat atop the West this season. Houston opened the season on a 25-4 run and had a leg up on Golden State until about Christmas Day. Now, Mike D’Antoni‘s squad has reclaimed the No. 1 seed.
The Rockets and Warriors have each been about as successful on the road as they’ve been at home, so the two teams may not go all-out down the stretch to claim the No. 1 seed. Still, with the Warriors looking to come out of the West for a fourth consecutive season, the Rockets appear to be the biggest threat to knock them off since Kevin Durant arrived in the Bay Area. If the Western Conference Finals come down to these two clubs, home-court advantage could be a factor.
No other Western Conference team is within nine games of either the Rockets or Warriors in the standings, so this looks like a two-team race, and we want to know what you think.
Will the Warriors, who haven’t lost more than 15 games in a regular season since 2013/14, finish the season on a hot streak and claim the No. 1 seed? Or will, the Rockets, who are 28-1 when James Harden, Chris Paul, and Clint Capela are all in their lineup, hang onto their lead in the West and grab the top spot heading into the postseason?
Vote below in our poll and jump into the comment section to share your thoughts — including whether or not home-court advantage will make a difference for these two clubs.
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Houston gets the 1 seed, but Golden State represents the West in the Finals
Is it weird I think whichever team gets the 2 seed will win?
Always wrong
Harden gets hurt and GS has a cakewalk to the Finals
Predicting injuries is ignorant and stupid AF!
Giving bad karma to GS. Nice job!
Warriors. CP3 and harden always disappear during crunch time!
Safe bet is on the warriors even with how great the rockets are.
Rockets take top seed and win the title. Chip it.
Wouldn’t be too surprised if both teams slightly step off the pedal for playoff matchups. The potential first round matchups shouldn’t scare too much, but its the potential second round matchup that could cause problems. As of right now, the 3-5 seeds are San Antonio, Minnesota, and OKC. If I’m Houston and Golden State, OKC would be the one team I would not want to see in the second round. San Antonio is still a threat, but until Kawhi comes back and can prove he’s relatively 100%, they’re not as big of a threat as OKC. Minnesota could also cause problems, but they’re a young team and still have defensive issues.
Rockets. GS is done.