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As the Golden State Warriors prepare for another playoff run, it appears as if their fiercest competition will come from the Houston Rockets, who are currently atop the Western Conference at 49-13. As good as the Warriors have been this season, The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson identified two areas where the Rockets are better than Golden State on Murph & Mac Tuesday morning
“For me, Clint Capela and the pick-and-roll. Those are two things that Houston has,” Thompson said.
On the year, James Harden has 500 points off pick-and-rolls, which is good for sixth in the NBA. He also averages 9.1 points per game off the play, a number that falls only behind Damian Lillard (12.8) and Eric Bledsoe (9.7) in the Western Conference.
“They’re masters of the pick-and-roll and the Warriors barely even run it,” Thompson said. “I think that if the Warriors ran it as much as the Rockets, they’d be the best pick-and-roll team because they have Durant and Curry, but James Harden is probably the best pick-and-roll player in the league. That’s their bread and butter and guarding that is difficult.”
Although he’s on a team with Chris Paul and Harden, Capela is standing out as one of the best centers in the league. In 56 starts this season, Capela is averaging 14.5 points, 11.2 rebounds in 27.5 minutes per game. Capela is ranked fourth among his fellow centers with 104 blocks, averaging 1.8 per game.
“No question about it, the player who should worry them the most is Clint Capela,” Thompson said. “He’s better than any Warrior center at this point…Zaza can’t keep up with him. JaVale is terrible and pick-and-rolls. David West isn’t fast enough. It probably comes down to Draymond Green and do you want to burn him out at center all the time?”
Nonetheless, Thompson is confident that the Warriors will be able to overcome these disadvantages and beat the Rockets in the playoffs, should the two teams meet down the road.
“But in the end, it’s James Harden and Chris Paul against Steph Curry and Kevin Durant,” Thompson said. “At this point, I’m going with Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, unless there’s another galactic level that James Harden and Chris Paul can get to.”
To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and skip to 3:45 for Thompson on Rockets.