Warriors vs. Rockets on November 15, 2018

The first Western Conference Finals rematch between the Warriors and Rockets will occur 15 games into the regular season since the Warriors celebrated a comeback Game 7 victory at the Toyota Center in Houston. The Rockets will no doubt bring the intensity after letting a 14-point lead slip away from them last May and want to exact revenge on the Warriors. This time, Chris Paul should be playing after missing the last two games of the Western Conference Finals last season with a hamstring injury.

The question for the Warriors: Will they get up for the matchup knowing it’s a big regular season game early in the year or will they drag through the game as they have so often done throughout the past two regular seasons?

The complacency factor will dictate whether the Warriors’ effort and desire to compete in a regular season contest in November against a premier opponent. If they don’t have the energy and motivation to compete in the contest, it could be a blowout for Houston, which could give the Rockets the confidence they can upend the Warriors in the postseason and not just the regular season.

It will also give the Rockets the confidence they can take the season series, which is what they did last year and ended up as the #1 seed in the West. Now, if the Warriors do have the desire to compete against the Rockets in Houston in an early-season contest, that should suggest that they are in midseason form and could possibly blow the Rockets out of their own gym.

Both teams know each other’s playing styles and a determining factor will be who can get the most defensive stops against the other team. They will both try to take away the three-point line.

James Harden and Paul should be ready to play in this rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals, with the end of it leaving a bitter taste in their mouths. The Warriors’ all-stars should be hyped and ready to play a fully healthy Houston team, who took them to the brink of elimination twice.

It will be an early season test for Golden State. Pass it with flying colors and there should not be much of a concern with complacency. But blowing the test should heighten the Warriors motivation and sense of urgency to play with force against the best teams in the league.