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Message: [QUOTE="champs99and04, post: 2718563, member: 488"] Warriors-Rockets looks like a lot of what we expected. The x's and o's of this particular match-up re-enforce the macro trends rather than counter them. Houston is good enough to the point that they can reliably get Harden iso'd on the guy they want, but he can't exert that sort of energy every possession for 48 minutes. Consider the fact that Klay Thompson might be the fourth best defender in the lineup Golden State started tonight and he's an all-NBA caliber defensive player. Tucker, Ariza, and Mbah a Moute aren't going to cut it, not when the guy they're guarding on the other end is maybe the best scorer on the planet. I mean, I don't know exactly what the Warriors numbers defensively were during the regular season. I don't think it matters. They go to dark places when they're dialed in and could absolutely win a championship with a league average offense. Draymond and Durant are so good defensively that you could build a championship roster with Trevor Ariza types filling out the starting five. Add Curry and Thompson to the mix and it's just a joke. They had the greatest shooting backcourt of all-time under Mark Jackson and have since added two of the best players in the world. It's almost as if this series would have been perfectly even had Durant stayed out of it. Add him to the mix and it's probably over in 5 or 6. That's how good he is. [/QUOTE]