Houston Rockets: The whole season comes down to Game 7

The Houston Rockets worked so hard in the regular season to have home court advantage throughout the playoffs, and it just might pay off.

Game 6 in Oakland didn’t quite go as planned. The Rockets made their 3-pointers, but they shot just 40.3 percent from the field and 52.9 percent at the foul line. Houston also committed 21 turnovers, which is a death sentence against Golden State.

Winning a closeout game in Oracle Arena was a long shot, but now the Rockets have the opportunity to play in front of their own fans. The Rockets just need one. One great performance against one team in order to get one win.

The Rockets are a win away from the NBA Finals and they’re playing the game in Toyota Center. This is exactly where they want to be. It’s an opportunity that James Harden will take any day. He told the media that he’s still confident that Houston can win Game 7, via ESPN’s Tim Macmahon.

“We’ll take that. So nothing changes for us. We know what we have to do. … We’re still confident. We’re a confident group, and we’ve just got one chance.”

The Rockets have been in this place before, in this series. After Golden State defeated Houston in Game 1, the Rockets came back with a vengeance. Houston got 27 points from James Harden and Eric Gordon. P.J. Tucker also scored a playoff career high 22 points to help the Rockets win 127-105.

Then, Golden State responded by winning Game 3 at home 126-85. It was the biggest loss in the postseason for a team that won at least 65 games, and people were calling the series all but over. Houston again responded with their backs to the wall by winning the next two games.

So far in this series, the Rockets have had a response every time Golden State has swung a big punch. Can Houston do it again? For James Harden, he doesn’t feel any pressure ahead of Game 7, via ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

“There’s no pressure. It’s an opportunity, though, an opportunity that we all are excited to be a part of. Game 7 at our house. That’s what we worked the entire regular season for, is home-court advantage. We’re going to come out and we’re going to be ready.”

Whether Chris Paul plays or not, the Rockets have an opportunity to knock out the team that had dominated the western conference over the past few years.

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

Houston is confident, the crowd will be full of energy and all of the pressure really is on Golden State. It should be a good game, but it’ll be great if Houston can pull off a win.