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The Rockets will look to take a series lead tonight vs. the Warriors

By Michael Knight

OAKLAND, CA - MAY 22: James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets handles the ball against Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors during Game Four of the Western Conference Finals during the 2018 NBA Playoffs on May 20, 2018 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - MAY 22: James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets handles the ball against Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors during Game Four of the Western Conference Finals during the 2018 NBA Playoffs on May 20, 2018 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Rockets are coming off the biggest win of the season, maybe the decade. Can they back it up tonight with another victory?

The Houston Rockets are tied 2-2 in their series with the Golden State Warriors. Last game, the squad evened up the series after they won a gritty 95-92 game in the place with the best homecourt advantage: Oracle Arena.

Now the series shifts back to Houston for one game and the Rockets will have to keep the same intensity. The crowd, including the Sante Fe High School seniors and ISD as well as First Responders, will certainly be ready to be loud and proud for H-Town.

It will certainly be tough for Houston, of course. They are facing one of the most talented teams of all time in the Golden State Warriors. This team already took Game 1 in Houston in dominating fashion. Let’s hope tonight is more like Game 2.

Let’s look at some of the important injuries for this game:

Injury Report

The Warriors have both Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala listed as questionable for tonight. However, coach Steve Kerr has pretty much said that at least Klay will play. I’d be shocked if they both do not, though.

Chris Paul is still recovering from his foot injury. He still looked great from the second quarter on in Game 4.

Notes

The Warriors are treating this series now like “real playoff basketball.”

Stephen Curry said players were talking in the locker room about how excited they are for Game 5 tomorrow. “This is real playoff basketball,” he said.

— Connor Letourneau (@Con_Chron) May 24, 2018

Seems a little cocky to say, but it is the Warriors we’re talking about. Let’s show them that they aren’t invincible in a series tonight.

The Warriors also haven’t lost back-to-back playoff games since the 2016 Finals where they…you know…blew a 3-1 lead. They also haven’t lost more than 1 game in a series until the Rockets in this series. Hopefully, Houston can be the first team to do both.

We’ll see how much Clint Capela plays tonight. His minutes have been at around 20 over the past couple games due to the poor matchup. The Rockets will have to expand the rotation some, though, as they can’t have multiple players playing 40+ minutes a night. Look for Luc Mbah a Moute and Gerald Green to possibly get a few more minutes tonight.

Who’s ready for some fun? The game tonight will be at 8:00 p.m. CT on TNT!

Next: P.J. Tucker has defined small ball postseason

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