Warriors at Rockets
The Golden State Warriors are on the verge of another 60-win season as they try to lock up the top spot in the Western Conference and homecourt advantage throughout the NBA playoffs. The Houston Rockets, who host the Warriors on Tuesday, are locked into the No. 3 spot in the West and are looking to test themselves against the best in the West heading into the postseason.
Golden State went through a disjointed period following Kevin Durant's knee injury and exacerbated by a rough stretch of schedule but has since cruised to seven straight wins with Stephen Curry taking control of the offense and Klay Thompson burying 3-pointers to compliment an improvement on the defensive end. "We're playing at a really intense level defensively," Warriors forward Andre Iguodala told reporters. "The results show the way we want it to show, which is W's." The Rockets are picking up plenty of W's as well - four straight and seven in the last eight games - and James Harden continues to build his MVP resume. The All-Star point guard is averaging 36 points, 12.2 assists and 8.6 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field over the last five games and was named Western Conference Player of the Week on Monday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBATV, CSN Bay Area (Golden State), ROOT (Houston)
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (59-14): Golden State doesn't plan on resting players this week and can basically wrap up the top spot in the West with a good week while playing Houston (twice) and San Antonio over the next three games. The Warriors needed someone to step up when Durant went down and are getting a strong run from veteran Iguodala, who went 7-of-8 from the floor in a win over Memphis on Sunday and drew high praise from his coach. "He brings this incredible level of athletic ability and amazing awareness at both ends of the floor," Steve Kerr told reporters of Iguodala. "I think I've said it recently, but Andre has been our best player the past few weeks. He's been phenomenal."
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (51-22): Houston's supporting cast is stepping up around Harden as well and four different players scored at least 22 points in Sunday's 137-125 triumph over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Lou Williams led the way with 31 points off the bench while burying 7-of-8 from long range, and Harden was impressed with the team's intensity from start to finish. "We were on a streak from the beginning of the game," Harden told reporters. "Offensively we were in attack mode and defensively we stuck to our coverages. Just from the beginning of the game we were locked in. And as a result, we rode that lead all the way until the end of the game."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Rockets SF Trevor Ariza went 6-of-8 from 3-point range on Sunday after going 5-of-20 in the previous four contests.
2. Thompson is 34-of-65 from 3-point range over the last seven games.
3. The teams split the first two meetings, with Golden State earning a 125-108 win at Houston behind 32 points from Durant on Jan. 20.