Forecast: Rockets Vs. Warriors NBA Playoffs: Game 4

I’ve been so longing to see this game Houston Rockets fans!

Red Nation! We have a chance to shut up all of our haters by sealing the deal and tying this series tonight!

My heart says we’re going to win this game but my mind says that we’re going to lose in a dogfight, it won’t be a blowout today guys!

But if the Rockets’ shots keep falling when they need them the most, play effective defense and be quick to adjust to the Warriors lightning-quick rotations, then they’ll be able to grab this game as well.

I so badly want this game to be ours — especially against an apparently healthy Stephen Curry — as we are on national television today and it would be a great way to let the world know that we need to be taken seriously and that they’re a very good basketball team when all cylinders are clicking!

If there was any game the Rockets needed to step up for, it’s today and if they knot things up at two games a piece, it’s going to get really interesting.

We’ll have to see — let’s go!

So who’s leading the charge for the Warriors?

More from House of Houston

Stephen Curry is the leading scorer (24.0 PPG) and the steals king (3.0 PPG). Draymond Green is the assist man (6.3 APG), top board-getter (10.3 RPG) and Andrew Bogut is the premier shot-blocker (2.0 BPG).

Let’s talk about what the Warriors are doing well.

From a Rockets fan’s perspective, they’re doing everything right but let’s delve deeper into the numbers:

They’re a well-balanced team. Not surprised by that assertion, huh? After the Warriors’ loss, they’ve dropped to 7th in offensive efficiency (scoring 105.0 points per 100 possessions) but have elevated to 2nd in defensive efficiency (allowing a stingy 91.2 points per 100 possessions) among the 16 teams still playing for something.

They’re kind of good at that “moving the ball around” thing. Although the Warriors are looking good doing it against us and led the league in assist ratio for most of the way of the regular season, they’ve elevated to 2nd behind the Cleveland Cavaliers. Currently, 18.4 percent of their possessions end with an assist. Wow.

They love to have the basketball in their hands. This stat isn’t too surprising but the frequency of possessions that they use to turbo-charge their offense is something to behold. They’re currently ranked 3rd — behind the Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics — averaging 101.4 possessions per game.

Injuries:

Stephen Curry injured his ankle late in the first half of Game 1 as he seemed to have landed on it wrong while actually being heavily-defended by none other than Bev. He made two trips to the locker room as was available to play in the 2nd half but wasn’t used as the Warriors definitely had the game in hand. Curry didn’t play in Game 2 or 3 but Steve Kerr has confirmed that he’ll be ready to go today. Jonathan Feigen has indicated that Curry is listed as probable on the injury report. So there we have it.

Sources: Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com, Chris Mannix of the Vertical and Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com

Next: Dwight Howard Tells The Critics To 'Shut Up'

Five Things to Watch:

Patrick Beverley vs. Stephen Curry — MUST SEE!
Can Trevor Ariza bounce back from his horrible shooting performance the other night?
Will there be any improvement on how the Rockets respond to the Warriors’ rotations?
Can the Rockets improve upon finding a way to move the ball around to the open man quickly?
How effective will Curry be?

Prediction:

105-100 in a Rockets’ loss.

The Rockets are at home to take on the Warriors for Game 4 at Toyota Center.

Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CDT.

The game will be televised on ABC and broadcast on SportsTalk 790 AM (KBME), Sirius 207/XM 86/SiriusXM 86 (Internet 890) and La Ranchera 850 AM (KEYH) in Spanish.

Go Rockets!

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