The Houston Rockets took the Golden State Warriors to seven games last year. They did not win that pivotal Game 7 in which they lost 101-92. Chris Paul being injured with a hamstring played a big part of them not being able to overcome the Warriors. After Game 5 the Rockets were up 3-2 in the series and had two chances to close, but the Chris Paul injury was too big of a blow to overcome. The Houston Rockets look to have an even better season than last year after being kicked out of the Western Conference Finals.
The Houston Rockets look to have better fortunes this year after being kicked out of playoffs in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals
Three-Pointers
The Rockets have been one of the best three-point shooting teams in the league in recent years. They broke the record for most three-pointers made in a season last year after they broke the record the previous year.
Their ability to make three-pointers is one of the reasons they are one of the top teams in the league. They are probably the Golden State Warriors biggest competition this year. They actually won the season series last year 2-1 and as said before if Paul doesn’t go down they probably win that series against the Warriors.
With Carmelo Anthony on the team, they will have to see if he will be able to replace Trevor Ariza offensively in terms of making threes. Defensively Ariza cannot be replaced by Anthony, but they will have P.J. Tucker to spell him as Anthony has clearly stated that he does not want to come off the bench.
Tucker shot 37.1 percent from three last year and he has the size to play defense. The team is a great three-point shooting team with Paul, James Harden, and Eric Gordon as their sixth man (Gordon should be on the court with Paul and Harden sometimes), but they will need Anthony to provide them with great spot-up shooting from three.
Great Players
Harden won the MVP award after having another great season. He averaged 30.4 points (career high) and 8.8 assists per game. This year he will look to lead the team to the finals.
Paul had a great year last year also. He had 18.6 points and 7.9 assists per game last year. After a season where it ended in injury, this year should be a season where he tries to get redemption.
Role players like Clint Capela and Gordon will be big factors for the team to get where they want to be. Capela is a beast on the boards. Last year he had the best year of his career where he averaged a double-double with 13.9 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. If he is able to develop his game, even more, this year he could be an x-factor.
Gordon has to be able to lead the bench this year as he has done so well. He was the 2017 sixth man of the year.
How to make it to the finals this year
The Rockets will have to rely on good shooting and their great players to be able to advance to the finals this year. After a season where they felt if they had one player they would have advanced, there should be an urgency this year.
The West is a hard conference to play in. The Rockets proved they were the best team in the regular season last year. They had the best win percentage at 79.3 percent and they were second in the league in points per game with 112.4 last year.
With a weaker defense, they will have to outscore teams. It is all up to Anthony who is coming off the worst season of his career. If he is able to finish plays that will be there by hitting his open shots the Rockets should be fine.
Golden State with their starting five of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, and DeMarcus Cousins looks like the only team standing in their way. To beat them, they will need to make their threes at a high efficiency. This Rockets team is a record-breaking three-point shooting team. They should be able to play with the Warriors this year.
Conclusion
The Rockets had a season that looked promising that fizzled out after a key injury. For them to be able to have a better season this year, they will have to have some luck on their side in terms of the injuries and keep playing as they have in the past years.
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