After a miraculous comeback by the Houston Rockets, being down 1-3 with the Clippers, they managed to scrap into the Western Conference Finals and will face the Golden State Warriors on the 19th of March. As much as I would like to see Chris Paul, Blake and DeAndre go up against Steph and Co. I can't say that I'm unsatisfied with this current matchup.
I will say right off the bat that the Warriors are the favourites in this series, so I will turn my focus on Houston. The Rockets proved that they're for real once they completed their comeback vs. the Clipps. Now everybody is saying that the key to win is for James Harden to get to the free throw line. I disagree. Like you saw in game 5, there are other players on the Houston roster that can play some ball. So I think that Harden should focus on being the "LeBron" for his team. And what I mean by that is that he should be able to take on a playmaking role, now that they do not have a healthy point guard on their squad (Pat Beverley is injured currently). "The Beard" has to take on a bigger defensive role also, I think we all know what I'm talking about... He simply cannot sag off Chef Curry or Klay, or they'll get burned, and the series will be other before you know it. James is known for being a defensive liability, wondering around somewhere in the paint, while his man splashes a three pointer. Another key for the Rockets are their big man; Dwight. From the beginning of the Playoffs Dwight looks like his older self from the "Superman days" in Orlando, which is very promising for Houston fans. It will be interesting seeing him go up against Andrew Bogut, another defensive specialist.
Now going to the Eastern Conference, LeBron will have to deal with the Hawks. This will be a particularly hard task for Cleveland, with Kevin Love injured for the rest of the season and Kyrie being hobbled up, it's time for the role players to step up, just like Delly did in game 6 vs. Chicago. David Blatt should go deeper into his bench and grab Mike Miller and Shawn Marion out to play some minutes. I get that their old veterans, but that's why they were brought to the team, to play in the Playoffs and bring that expierience into the game. LeBron will be LeBron, he will play his heart out, the key factor for the Cavs is staying healthy and for the role players to contribute more. To be perfectly candid, I do not believe in the Hawks. I don't know why, it's just that the fact that they do not have that go-to-guy that can close out games for you, I think it's a problem for them. Playing without a star does have its benefits, but it also carries some drawbacks. They are playing beautiful team basketball, but they already showcased their weaknesses in the previous rounds vs. Brooklyn and vs. Washington. They love to play small ball and they do so perfectly, but that just might come back and haunt them on the boards, with big guys like Mozgov and Thompson (who is a rebounding machine) they will get outrebounded. These guys handled themselves well against the powerful frontcourt of the Bulls, so they should be OK Milsap and Horford.
