We have reached the final part of the NBA regular season and the teams that will be in the postseason are beginning to be defined little by little. While in the Eastern Conference the 10 teams that will see action in the postseason are practically a fact, the Western Conference attracts the spotlight by having an interesting fight for the tenth and final place in the Play-In between the Warriors and the Rockets. On one hand, we have the Golden State Warriors, who are in 10th place right now with a record of 40 wins and 34 losses. They continue in the fight for the high level of their great star Stephen Curry, who is averaging 26.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5 assists per game, being the maximum attack reference for the Warriors, this figure is accompanied by a series of very interesting in the regular rotation like Trayce Jackson-Davis, Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga, young people with little experience and growing game by game. Golden State's main weakness is the issue of problems with Draymond Green, who has been suspended and expelled on several occasions this season due to his temperament, in addition to the decline in the level of players like Chris Paul, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins. Despite all this, the Warriors are still in Play-In positions by achieving some important victories such as visits to Miami or Los Angeles.
On the other hand, we have the Houston Rockets who are on the rise, achieving 11 consecutive victories throughout the month of March and placing themselves in eleventh position with 38 victories and 36 losses, in addition to only one game difference with the Warriors in the fight for the last ticket to the Play-In.
After Alperen Sengun's injury, it seemed that the Rockets would not be able to get into the Play-Offs, but they have shown great improvement by recovering the level of Jalen Green, the young figure of the Rockets, averaging 18.2 points per game Before Sengun's injury, he averaged 30.9 points per game, having an important effect on his team's offense and helping them not slow down. The work of the Rockets coaching staff has had a great response by making the team show a better connection and making the most of the talent of Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks to have a very good defensive game and being efficient on offense.
How do both teams close the tournament?
With only 8 games left for both teams and a direct confrontation between them, these two weeks will be fundamental for the future of each project. The Warriors close the tournament with 4 very tough duels, a couple of matchups against the Dallas Mavericks, a visit to the Lakers and hosting the Pelicans, all of these teams in postseason positions, while they will also have 3 accessible duels, two games in home against the Jazz and one more against the Blazers. However, the duel that could be vital is the visit to Houston by the Warriors in a direct duel.
Likewise, the Rockets will have 5 difficult matchups against Dallas, Miami, Orlando, Minnesota and Clippers, all of which have places in the postseason. Added to these, they will have a couple of less complicated games visiting the Jazz and the Brazzers. But the most important duel is the one on April 4 between the Warriors and Rockets, which could be key to defining the team that can occupy the last place in the Play-In.
Next duel
The Toyota Center will host this duel between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets next Thursday, April 4 at 6:00 p.m. (CDMX). In the two previous duels, the Warriors have won, their last meeting being in November of last year, when the Golden State team won 121 to 116 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
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