Houston Rockets: Do Not Overanalyze the First Game vs. the Warriors

The Rockets will open up against the defending champion Golden State Warriors on October 17.

Hot take season is upon us. But isn’t that year round? Anyways, it was announced that the Houston Rockets would open the year against the Warriors this season in mid-October.

It will certainly be an early test for a team that has to adjust to having two point guards on the floor. Chris Paul and James Harden will take some time to get used to each other and the Warriors will be the first (official) team to see them in action. We will see later this week who the Rockets play in the preseason.

On the hot take subject, Rockets fans need to be careful when looking at the first game. Everyone is guilty of hot takes, including us. Win or lose, it is still the first game of the season. Both teams will be coming back from a long summer and both also have new pieces to adjust to the offenses.

If the Rockets Beat the Warriors

Will it be exciting if the Rockets take down the defending champs? Of course, it would. However, that does not automatically make the team better than Golden State by any means. A true test of power against the Warriors to see where the Rockets sit would be a midseason matchup. At that point, the Rockets would have their system down with Chris Paul and others. The Warriors would also be used to new bench pieces like Omri Casspi and Nick Young. So even if the Rockets win their first game, let’s not declare them champs just yet.

https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets/status/895768224368926721

If the Warriors Win

Similar to the last section, the Rockets still have a learning curve after adding an All-Star and future Hall of Famer. The Warriors themselves lost by nearly 30 points to the Spurs last year in their first game with Kevin Durant!

The Warriors are an incredible team, the best anyone has seen in awhile, if not ever. A loss to them on the first day of the season would not be shameful at all. By the end of the season, though, the goal is to be able to take them down. Will that happen? We will have to see how the team works together, but on paper, the Rockets are prepared to at least give the Warriors a fight, something they did not receive in last year’s playoffs.

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