The Warriors roared back after halftime of the Western Conference Finals on Saturday to force a deciding Game 7 on Monday night.
Naturally, it helped that the Rockets played without their floor leader, Chris Paul. After pulling his hamstring late in Game 5, Paul could only watch from the bench and occasionally give a piece of his mind to the officials in Game 6. He’s a game-time decision for Game 7 but even if he goes, he’ll likely be limited in terms of minutes and mobility.
The Warriors’ Big 4 will play, though small forwards Andre Iguodala and Kevon Looney are questionable because of injuries. Houston will have the home court on Monday, which they earned by playing more consistently that the Warriors during the course of the regular season. But each team has won a game on the other’s court during the series, so the energy boost from the crowd will only help the Rockets to a certain extent.
Golden State has looked much less focused and more vulnerable during these playoffs than it did last season, when it cruised to the title. But Paul’s iffy status puts Houston in a bind, even though its players are clearly hungry for a ring.
This could be the night that James Harden puts his team on his shoulders and carries it to the Finals. Or the Warriors’ overall talent could simply be too much for the Rockets to handle.
This leads us to our question of the day: Who will win Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals and why?
Please take to the comments section and voice your opinion. We look forward to what you have to say.
4 All Stars > 1 All Star (assuming CP3 doesn’t play)
Warriors win in a close one.
As much as admire Houston and hate GS, Warriors by 15
No paul means no chance for rockets. With Gordon in the starting lineup the rockets lack the depth and conditioning to keep up in the second half with the warriors
Can the basketball Gods give us what we want and have Golden State lose by 25?
You mean to tell me we’re not all clamoring for Cleveland vs GSW again
A real shame about CP3, it was such a good series, with him I think no one can doubt now that Houston would be at the Final, but without him Golden State will be the lucky undeserved team in the finals, which to be honest will have an easy ride against Cleveland, it really is the King & a bunch of friends that cannot play ball for their lives.