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With a trio of constants in Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and head coach Steve Kerr, the Golden State Warriors have won four NBA championships and six Western Conference titles since 2015.
Not surprisingly, four of those years (2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019) featured series victories over the Houston Rockets during the West playoffs.
A year after that last playoff loss to the dynasty-era Warriors, the Rockets went into a rebuilding cycle, which they've emerged out of over the past two seasons under the leadership of Ime Udoka. Thus, the version entering the 2025 NBA playoffs is entirely different from the James Harden- and Chris Paul-led group that last faced the Warriors in a postseason setting.
But for Curry, a two-time Most Valuable Player (MVP), 11-time NBA All-Star, and a future Hall of Famer, the upcoming first-round matchup (schedule) does bring back memories.
"I was just telling Draymond, it's wild," Curry said after defeating Memphis in Tuesday's play-in game and securing a best-of-seven series with the Rockets. "We've been in playoff series in Houston for a decade. It's crazy to think about. I know this is a brand-new version of the Rockets' team, but we're excited for the challenge."
Led by the likes of Amen Thompson and Tari Eason, the current Houston squad is among the NBA's elite defenses. Earlier this month, in a win at Golden State, Thompson and the Rockets held Curry to just 3 points on 1-of-10 shooting (10.0%) — the lowest scoring game of his career when playing at least 30 minutes.
Perhaps with that in mind, Curry clearly has respect for the Rockets (52-30), who finished the 2024-25 regular season with four more wins than the seventh-seeded Warriors (48-34).
"They're the No. 2 seed for a reason," Curry said late Tuesday. "They've played well all year long. They play a certain, physical style of defense. Super athletic."
The series opens with Sunday's Game 1 inside Houston's Toyota Center, which is hosting its first playoff game since Curry and the Warriors knocked the Rockets out of the 2019 playoffs in Game 6 of a second-round series. The Rockets are slight favorites (-1.5) in the opening game but moderate underdogs (+165) for the series as a whole.
Golden State won three of its five head-to-head meetings with Houston this season, though the Rockets did win two of the final three.
More: 2025 NBA playoffs odds: Despite lower seed, Warriors open as betting favorites vs. Rockets
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: ‘It’s wild’: Steph Curry on yet another Rockets-Warriors playoff clash
Continue reading...
Not surprisingly, four of those years (2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019) featured series victories over the Houston Rockets during the West playoffs.
A year after that last playoff loss to the dynasty-era Warriors, the Rockets went into a rebuilding cycle, which they've emerged out of over the past two seasons under the leadership of Ime Udoka. Thus, the version entering the 2025 NBA playoffs is entirely different from the James Harden- and Chris Paul-led group that last faced the Warriors in a postseason setting.
But for Curry, a two-time Most Valuable Player (MVP), 11-time NBA All-Star, and a future Hall of Famer, the upcoming first-round matchup (schedule) does bring back memories.
"I was just telling Draymond, it's wild," Curry said after defeating Memphis in Tuesday's play-in game and securing a best-of-seven series with the Rockets. "We've been in playoff series in Houston for a decade. It's crazy to think about. I know this is a brand-new version of the Rockets' team, but we're excited for the challenge."
Led by the likes of Amen Thompson and Tari Eason, the current Houston squad is among the NBA's elite defenses. Earlier this month, in a win at Golden State, Thompson and the Rockets held Curry to just 3 points on 1-of-10 shooting (10.0%) — the lowest scoring game of his career when playing at least 30 minutes.
Perhaps with that in mind, Curry clearly has respect for the Rockets (52-30), who finished the 2024-25 regular season with four more wins than the seventh-seeded Warriors (48-34).
"They're the No. 2 seed for a reason," Curry said late Tuesday. "They've played well all year long. They play a certain, physical style of defense. Super athletic."
The series opens with Sunday's Game 1 inside Houston's Toyota Center, which is hosting its first playoff game since Curry and the Warriors knocked the Rockets out of the 2019 playoffs in Game 6 of a second-round series. The Rockets are slight favorites (-1.5) in the opening game but moderate underdogs (+165) for the series as a whole.
Golden State won three of its five head-to-head meetings with Houston this season, though the Rockets did win two of the final three.
More: 2025 NBA playoffs odds: Despite lower seed, Warriors open as betting favorites vs. Rockets
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: ‘It’s wild’: Steph Curry on yet another Rockets-Warriors playoff clash
Continue reading...
