The Warriors have a target on their backs. The Rockets are obsessed with hitting it.
So it goes for the reigning NBA Champions and their top challenger, a Houston team that holds a half game edge in the Western Conference standings as the teams approach the start of a new calendar year.
On Thursday, Rockets’ general manager Daryl Morey told ESPN’s Ryen Russillo that beating Golden State is “the only thing we think about.” It shouldn’t come as any surprise that Houston is determined to take down the top team in its conference, especially after the Rockets made a play to sign veteran point guard Chris Paul this offseason.
After a 25-5 start to the season, Houston has emerged as the leading threat to battle the Warriors for Western Conference supremacy, but Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said his focus isn’t as specific.
“They’ve (Houston) been great, I thought they made some really good offseason additions,” Kerr said. “They’re better defensively. Obviously Chris Paul gives them a different dimension and they’ve been destroying everybody. They’ve got a hell of a team. But I don’t wake up in the morning thinking about them.”
What does the Warriors coach think about? Well, let’s just say he’s more of a day-to-day, even an hour-to-hour type of guy.
“I think about what I’m going to have for breakfast,” Kerr said. “I also think about lunch. What we’re going to do at practice, what movie my wife and I are going to watch that night. There’s plenty of time to think about the Rockets and the Spurs and Cleveland and everybody else who’s challenging us. But it’s a good position to be in, to know people are thinking about us.”