**Note: The following content has an adult joke. Discretion is advised
One half of the Western Conference bracket of the 2019 NBA Playoffs is set, as the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors eliminated the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers, respectively.
And now, both winning teams face each other in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals. Plus, this series marks the fourth time that the two teams face off in the past five postseasons.
The prediction is listed via the bullet point below:
- #4 Houston Rockets Vs. #1 Golden State Warriors-The Warriors are the New England Patriots of the NBA, in the sense that most of the media is ready to crown them even before the postseason begins. But as a blogger who has been writing about sports for nearly eight months, I make my predictions based on how a media hype champion is currently looking compared to the rest of the field. And in terms of the Warriors, they have slowly declined, by first having their lowest win total (57) in the Steve Kerr era, and then being pushed nearly to the max by the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round. Teams such as the Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers are peaking at the right time, the four remaining teams in the Eastern Conference have all won at Oracle Arena during the regular season, and one of those teams (Toronto Raptors) became only the second ever team to sweep the Warriors during the regular season in the aforementioned Steve Kerr era. Plus, let’s not forget about the San Antonio Spurs, who are more than capable of shocking the world. Especially with Gregg Popovich as their head coach. And with all of that being said, any and all of those teams are more than capable of dethroning the Warriors. And that brings me to the Rockets, who have had nearly a year to prepare for this rematch. Will the fourth time be the charm for Mike D’Antoni’s bunch? I’m going to say yes, because there have been teams (2012 Baltimore Ravens) and (2013-14 Spurs), whom emphatically vanquished the teams (Patriots) and (Miami Heat) that they came up short against in such heart-breaking fashion. Add the 2018-19 Rockets to that list. Especially with a determined Chris Paul, who missed both Games 6 and 7 of last year’s aforementioned Western Conference Finals. He’ll be the difference in this round and he won’t let the Rockets lose. This series reminds me of the Dallas Mavericks Vs. Los Angeles Lakers second round series of 2011, where the Mavericks swept the Lakers. It won’t be a sweep for the Rockets, but it won’t be 3-1 after four games in favor of the Warriors, either. It’s going to end in six games. And no, Klay Thompson won’t be pulling shots out of his ass in a Game 6 elimination game this time around. The Rockets will KO the champs.