Draymond Green ‘excited as hell’ about Rockets-Warriors playoff series

[ASFN Admin]

With the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors poised for a first-round battle in the 2025 playoffs, four-time NBA champion Draymond Green said he's excited for the matchup.

Game 1 is Sunday night from Houston's Toyota Center (schedule).

In comments on his personal podcast, The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis, Green said of the upcoming series:

I’m excited about the matchup. This young team has gotten a lot bette. And when I say gotten a lot better... if you look at the team last year, they were like the 14th seed or 12th seed (in the Western Conference), or something like that.

They’re hungry. They want what we’ve experienced before. You’ve been in that position before, you know exactly how they feel. You can always rewind back to, like... ‘Man, if when we were in that position.’ You can put yourself in those shoes. Which, in a sense, can help you prepare in a different way... because (you know) what to expect.

I’m excited as hell about the matchup. We’ve played Ime Udoka in the playoffs in the NBA Finals (2022, with Boston), we know what his teams bring.

The complete episode can be listened to here.


Golden State (48-34, No. 7 in Western Conference) won four fewer games than the Rockets (52-30, No. 2 in West) during the 2024-25 regular season, which is why Houston holds home-court advantage.

After the opening two games at Toyota Center, the next two games of the best-of-seven series will shift to San Francisco's Chase Center, as part of the NBA's 2-2-1-1-1 format. Should further games be necessary in order for one side to reach four wins and advance, a hypothetical Game 5 and Game 7 would be in Houston, while a Game 6 would be at Golden State.

The Warriors did win three of the five earlier head-to-head meetings, though Houston won two of the final three — including one at Golden State earlier this month.

Each of the most recent four games has been a defensive slugfest, and Green is a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate. However, he has a -6.0 net rating against the Rockets this season.

More: By the numbers: Key head-to-head statistics for Rockets, Warriors in 2024-25 season

This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Draymond Green ‘excited as hell’ about Rockets-Warriors playoff series

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