Mike D’Antoni has high expectations for a potential second-round playoff series against the defending champions.
The Houston Rockets punched their ticket to the second round on Wednesday by defeating the Utah Jazz 100-93 to close out their first-round series. The Warriors would be their opponent in the second round should they eliminate the Los Angeles Clippers.
The potential high-octane matchup would represent a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Finals, which the Warriors won in seven games. It’s a series many basketball fans want to see, and one D’Antoni said should be “great.”
Given the invitation, Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni fought an urge to comment on a match up with GS. He could not resist the one-liner.
"If they come out of it, it's going to be a great series. We said all year, 'let's run it back.' Well, OK. I guess we're going to run it back."
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) April 25, 2019
There are more than a few Rockets fans who feel their team could have beaten the Warriors last season had Chris Paul not injured his hamstring in Game 5. Houston won that game to go up 3-2 in the series. However, the Warriors won the next two games, both of which Paul missed.
Barring injury to any of the important players from each team, a Warriors-Rockets series should indeed be one worth watching. It’s the matchup one Rockets player wants.
