The Rockets will look to advance to the Finals tonight

Today is the biggest day in 20+ years for the Houston Rockets organization. How will they respond to the pressure?

The Rockets will look to advance to the NBA Finals tonight for the first time since 1995. They face the Golden State Warriors in a decisive Game 7, winner takes all.

This will be the biggest game of James Harden‘s career. If Chris Paul plays, it will be the biggest game of his career as well. Let’s hope they come ready to take down the defending champions.

Speaking of CP3, he is currently questionable with his hamstring injury. He will meet with doctors and that will determine whether or not he plays. We may not know until the afternoon whether or not the Rockets will have their star point guard.

For the Warriors, Andre Iguodala and Kevon Looney are both questionable to play. Coach Kerr stated that they are assuming Iggy will not play in this crucial game with his knee injury.

Officials

The officials for this game is not a great sign. Scott Foster will be the lead official tonight with Mike Callahan and Derrick Stafford. Callahan and Stafford aren’t too bad, but Foster is regarded as one of the worst refs in the business. Yet he gets the biggest game of the season. Makes sense.

And yes, this is the same Scott Foster who was voted by players as (by far) the NBA's worst official… now working the NBA's biggest game of the entire season. This is what happens when there's no accountability:https://t.co/pRUupVmWKu

— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) May 28, 2018

After the ref-show last game, hopefully, this one will be called a little better. Hopefully, Foster can put aside his personal feelings and do his job on the biggest stage.

How the Rockets can win

The Rockets will need all hands on deck to win this one. With or without CP3, this one should be a fight to the finish.

The defense will need to be at Games 4 and 5 level. The offense will need to be better than those games, but locking down the perimeter is a must.

The Rockets cannot allow Klay Thompson to go off again like in Game 6. Keeping track of their best shooter during this series is a necessity as he will be ready to play and shoot lights out.

Isolation play is awesome for the Rockets, but throwing in the occasional ball movement wouldn’t hurt. They did that in the first half of Game 6 but failed to do so in the second half, resulting in just 25 points.

James Harden needs to have a game for the ages tonight. He can really change the negative narrative that surrounds him in closeout/elimination games if he goes off and wins this game for the Rockets.

It all comes down to this. Rockets. Warriors. Game 7. Tonight at 8 p.m. CT on TNT. You ready?

Next: 3 positive takeaways from Game 6 blowout