The Warriors and Rockets will play a season-defining game Thursday night in Houston.
How many times have I written a sentence like that in the last decade?
Too many to count.
So why is this time so different?
Or, more precisely, why doesn’t this confrontation arouse any feelings?
The Warriors and Rockets were once top rivals. Their contentious relationship was not as simple as that of the teams that often faced each other in the playoffs, it was broader, if not downright ideological.
The Warriors won’t admit it publicly because it’s not rude — the NBA is a so-called “brotherhood,” after all — but this core hasn’t been calling the shots behind the scenes. They hated the Rockets led by James Harden. They despised them. And they haven’t always been good at hiding it.
And the Rockets, bless them, hated the Warriors right back.
This is the kind of hatred between two teams that makes sport great.
Houston thought the Warriors were snooty favorites. The Warriors thought the Rockets were styleless hacks.
Both were probably right.
Of course, history is written by the winners and not those who miss 27 consecutive 3-pointers, so the Warriors’ account of events constitutes the official record.
But if styles make the fights, the contrast of the Warriors and Rockets makes for elite matchups. The personalities only added to the spectacle. Although Golden State’s annual meetings with LeBron James and the Cavs were the defining matchups, the true NBA Finals were often played between the Warriors and the Rockets.
These series have accumulated enough vitriol to last for decades.
But even though Draymond Green, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Chris Paul are still part of the Warriors-Rockets debates, none of those biles made it to 2024.
“I don’t care about the Rockets,” Green said last month.
It makes me miss the good old days.
Oh, how things have changed.
Green didn’t seem to make that comment, however. He really didn’t care about the Rockets.
Perhaps also for good reason.
With a five-game winning streak, the Warriors can effectively end the Rockets’ growing playoff chances on Thursday. The Rockets can make the Warriors sweat as they battle for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
It’s a great game, but there’s no baggage attached to it. Jerry Seinfeld was wrong: We don’t just do laundry.
I have a few theories as to why Warriors-Rockets means nothing but the obvious and simple these days.
The first was that the rivalry was actually the Warriors versus Harden, and Harden left Houston and is now on three other teams. (Just fill out the punch card and get a free one.)
The second is that the Rockets’ other villain, Chris Paul, is now playing hero for the Warriors, and we all agree with that. I still find it strange that Warriors fans don’t care (maybe Seinfeld was right), but Rockets fans don’t care either.
The entire Rockets team was totally rebuilt as every Warriors-Rockets game was must-see television.
And of course, there’s the fact that even though it’s a big match, the stakes aren’t exactly high.
Fighting for the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference playoffs is a far cry from the battle of the Western titans.
There is, however, hope for a resurgence of hatred. The Dubs’ core – Green in particular – won’t need much prodding to see red.
Maybe that old Warriors opponent, former Grizzly and now Rocket Dillon Brooks, can help.
The new Rockets also have a chance of being hated. Jalen Green is finally living up to his potential as a future star, averaging 25 points per game on a true shooting percentage of 58 since the All-Star Game. Always a gifted talker with an indifferent smile, Green has all the makings of a great villain.
Maybe the Warriors are too old to contend with a 22-year-old. (Or, in Green’s case, he’s too old to start again.)
After all, these teams operate on two different schedules. Sorry if this was triggering.
The Rockets are a young team on the rise. The Warriors are a veteran team trying to hold on to the last vestiges of dominance — and perhaps pining for grudges that expired a half-decade ago.
Okay, okay, that last part might just be me.
Maybe Thursday night will spark a new Warriors-Rockets rivalry. Don’t call it rapture.
And maybe it’s just nostalgia, but it won’t compare to what these two teams once had.
Nothing can.
California Daily Newspapers
