If Curry's Warriors need an opponent to serve as a foil, no one is more suitable than Harden and the Rockets. Before the 21st century, neither the Warriors nor the Rockets were at the center of the NBA stage. The Houston Rockets were formerly located in San Diego, California. Due

If library warriors need an opponent as a foil, no one is more suitable than Harden and rockets .

Before the 21st century, neither the Warriors nor the Rockets were at the center of the NBA stage.

The Houston Rockets were formerly located in San Diego, California. Due to poor management, they moved to Texas. They were also the first NBA team in Texas and even belonged to the Eastern Conference before 1980.

Their rise originated from Olajuwon. The legendary dream brought them the only two championship trophies in team history. It also made Houston's super center tradition second only to the Los Angeles Lakers .

Although the Golden State Warriors won three championships in the 20th century, two of them were in the first ten years of the NBA's founding period, relying on the ancient legends Joe Fulkes and Paul Arizin to win the championship (that (then called the Philadelphia Warriors), the champion in the 1970s was also in the merger period of the NBA and ABA, and core Rick Barry even hung out in ABA for a time.

But in the 21st century, these two teams have become the darlings of fans, especially Chinese fans, in the Internet era.

The Rockets selected Yao Ming as the top pick, which is equivalent to owning the entire Chinese market. In the first ten years of the 21st century, probably all other NBA teams combined could not match the supporters of China's "overseas national team" Houston Rockets.

In the first decade of the 21st century, the Golden State Warriors accomplished almost nothing. Their owner was Chris Kohan, who was repeatedly rated as the "worst owner" of the four major sports leagues in the United States. From 1995 to 2012, he spent 17 years. They only made it to the playoffs once that year and were one of the weakest teams in the Wild West at the time.

Everything must be based on 2009 as the dividing point, and everything has changed since then.

In 2009, investor Lacob purchased the Golden State Warriors for US$450 million. On the day of their official debut, he pointed to the three championship banners at Oracle Center and said,

" We want more."

In 2009, the Golden State Warriors were in the first round With the 7th overall pick, Stephen Curry, a junior from Davidson College, was selected.

In 2009, the Oklahoma City Thunder selected a future mvp, James Harden, for the third consecutive year.

The so-called "Historical Three-Point King", "09 Double Heroes", and "Warriors Dynasty" have since entered the stage of history.

If 2009 was the starting point for Harden and Curry to enter the league, then 2012 was the turning point for the two of them.

During the 2012 offseason, Harden left the Thunder for the Rockets. Now it seems that this transaction has greatly changed the subsequent NBA pattern.

In 2012, Stephen Curry signed the famous four-year, $44 million "child labor contract" with the team. This was also a foreshadowing of the subsequent changes in the league, because this contract allowed the Warriors to have a chance in the future. Get Kevin Durant.

Since then, Harden and Curry have gradually opened up their respective eras.

As one of the ultimate winners in active service, Curry holds four championships. He has even remained undefeated in the Western Conference playoffs in the past ten years from 2014 to 2023, and James Harden can be called his biggest supporting role. .

Since 2015, James Harden and Curry have lost four times in the playoffs, 16-7 in small games. As the most terrifying "ball-handling core" in the league at his peak, Harden was always weak when facing the "cluster artillery" of Curry and the Warriors.

In this process, both parties grew up independently.

Harden grew from a Western Conference All-Star to an MVP, taking the Rockets from the middle of the Western Conference to first in the league, and even created the best record in team history.

Curry has grown from an underappreciated and skinny guard to the historical three-point king, promoting the arrival of the league's small ball era.

He is not only an MVP, but also a unanimous MVP. Not only does he hold the championship, but he can also play in the league. After a setback in 2019, he made a comeback and won his true own championship in 2022 in single-core FMVP.

2015 Western Conference Finals Warriors 4-1

It was the year when the Warriors rose, and the Rockets also reversed the Clippers from a 1-3 deficit in the semifinals, and entered the conference finals as dark horses.

The Rockets actually had a lot of problems that year. The conflict between Harden and Warcraft and the gap with head coach McHale made their breakthrough seem lucky and accidental.

In the first year of Steve Kerr's leadership, the Warriors and Curry were completely transformed. The Warriors took a 3-0 lead in the first three games and eliminated any suspense. In the end, the Gentlemen swept the game and allowed the Rockets to return home in defeat.

2016 Western Conference First Round Warriors 4-1 Rockets

That was the year when conflicts over the Rockets broke out collectively. Harden's status has declined significantly due to his obsession with Kardashian. Warcraft has made the old habit of confusing the locker room again when he was in the Magic 7 and Lakers. McHale cannot control the locker room at all.

entered the playoffs with only a 41-41 record, eighth in the Western Conference, and met the Warriors, who had just set a 73-win record and seemed invincible.

Although it turned out that the Warriors were by no means indestructible, they were not something rockets could defeat. Although Curry only played two games due to injury, the Warriors easily eliminated their opponents 4-1 for the second consecutive year, which also prompted the Rockets to begin a major rebuilding effort.

2018 Western Conference Finals Warriors 4-3 Rockets

This is a historical game destined to be recorded in the annals of NBA history. Both sides have reached their peak.

The Warriors got Durant and seemed invincible. The only people in the league who had the courage to challenge them were the Houstonians who got Paul and Harden to join forces.

The Rockets won first place in the league that year with the best record in team history of 65 wins and 17 losses, and Harden also undisputedly won the MVP. Every time the two teams faced off that year, sparks collided with the earth.

The seven games in this round were countless classics.

In Game 1, Harden chased Curry for 41 points but lost in the end.

In Game 2, Gordon stepped up and scored a magical 27 points to secure the home court.

In Game 3, the Warriors defeated the Warriors with 41 points. In Game 4, the Rockets played their signature defense. Hold down the warrior.

The battle at Tianwang Mountain was thrilling. The Rockets won and lost, and Paul was reimbursed for the season.

In the sixth game, Clay's "g6 soup" appeared and scored nine three-pointers to become the savior again.

In the final tiebreaker, the Rockets once led by a large margin and ended up with a three-point lead, "27 consecutive irons."

The final winner was the Warriors, but the Rockets won everyone's respect until the last moment.

I would have known that it was the Warriors with 73 wins and Durant, the legendary team that gave James 8-1 in the two-year finals.

2019 Western Conference Semifinals Warriors 4-2 Rockets

If the 2018 Western Conference Finals brought Harden's personal reputation to its peak, then the rematch the next year proved that Curry is still much higher than him.

The two old enemies, who met for the fourth time in the playoffs in five years, each won two games 2-2 in the first four games. Thanks to Harden's efforts, the Warriors, who were already at the end of their strength, could only fill up Durant's playing time.

After playing four games, Adu only rested for 10 minutes in total. He finally ran out of gas and collapsed in the fifth game, which also paved the way for the tragedy in the finals.

As a result, just when people thought that Harden, who could carry the four-star Warriors the year before, had the best chance to eliminate his opponents, he turned out to be soft again at the critical moment.

Not only did Durant lose to the "Splash Brothers" again in Game 5, but in Game 6 in Houston, they were defeated by the Splash Brothers with 60 points, missing the best and last chance to defeat the Warriors.

Then he broke up with Paul and lost confidence in the management. Two years later, he broke up with Durant and joined the Nets.

The Warriors were also seriously injured in the series with the Rockets. Although they made it to the finals, they lost to Adu and Klay in the end and failed to complete their three consecutive championships.

Four years have passed and everything has changed.

Harden has already left Houston, and after passing through the Nets, 76 and , he traveled west again and settled in Los Angeles.The Rockets have also completed their reconstruction. After several years of dormancy, the team is now gathering new players with the highest talent potential in the league below the Thunder, which has attracted drool from peers.

Although the Warriors retain Curry and pursue their dreams, most of the former four-star Warriors have retired. Clay left Dallas, Durant settled in Phoenix, the "Xuan Ming two elders" have long retired, and Cousins ​​has even been living in Asia as a performer.

The once passionate warrior war has already completed the handover to the next generation.

What’s embarrassing is that now the newly rebuilt Rockets have lost 13 consecutive games against the Warriors with Curry in charge, and have not won a single victory since Harden left.

Now the Warriors have a strong start with 4 wins and 1 loss, and the lineup is so deep that even if Curry is injured, he can double kill the Pelicans .

The Rockets started with 3 wins and 2 losses. Especially after Jalen Green started the game, he averaged 27.6 points per game and became the league's top attacker. The Houstonians seemed to have finally found their new Harden after three years.

So today’s battle seems to make people smell the smoke of the Huo Yong battle a few years ago.