The Rockets, fresh off a first-round series win over the Jazz, will travel to the Bay Area tomorrow to begin preparation for what the team evidently believes will be a second-round match-up against the Warriors, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
Interestingly, the Warriors have not yet been able to dispatch the Clippers in their first-round series, so the Rockets decision to assume they will face Golden State in the next round is curious at best and disrespectful to the Clippers at worst.
The Rockets, of course, say they intend no disrespect to the Clippers – who host the Warriors in Game 6 tomorrow night – but rather insist that the quick turnaround between series creates a situation where Houston needs to get used to the Pacific Time Zone in case they open the second round at Oracle Arena on Sunday afternoon, which will happen if the Warriors win tomorrow night.
Even if the Clippers win tomorrow night, the Rockets will reportedly remain in the Bay Area, and only head back to Houston if the Clippers beat the Warriors in Game 7 on Sunday afternoon.
It’s unlikely the Clippers, who seem to play as hard and with as big of a chip on their shoulders as anybody, would need any extra motivation for tomorrow night, but if they did, this sure qualifies as bulletin board material.
Love these Clips (even though I’m a Celtics fan). They play with such heart. I doubt they’ll beat the Warriors but that would be lovely.
If they’re so worried about time zones they’d better hope the Clippers don’t win because then they’ll have to get re acclimated to their own time zone…
I don’t blame the Rockets one bit. Either they get acclimated to the time difference for a big series with the Warriors or they motivate the Clippers that much more. It could be a brilliant maneuver, but it is really a no lose situation.
I don’t see this as disrespectful at all. The Warriors have the lead in the series. They are objectively more likely to win
Good strategy, motivate the Clippers to prove them “wrong”, and they’ll have fresher meat than GS
Coach DAntoni is OVERATED!!!