Not a Rivalry: The Golden State-Houston Story

Last night, the Rockets took another loss at the hands of the Golden State Warriors. At this point, that result just fits the norm as Houston succumbed to their 15th loss in a row to that team. A loss made even more difficult since franchise-defining players like Stephen Curry and Draymond Green sat out of the game.

This period of losing is starkly different from their competitive, Harden-led era where the disparity wasn't as distinct. Even then, though, the Rockets always fell short of the Dubs and seem to be on the unfortunate side of a team “having their number.”

When the Houston Rockets were competing for titles, they geared their team to defeat one singular team that stood in their way. They believed they had as good a shot as anybody against any other team. It was just the Warriors and their dynasty blocking the path to the promised land.

Their best shot was the 2017-18 season, where the infamous 27-straight missed threes occurred in Game 7 of Houston’s second conference finals of the millennium. It was as even as the teams have ever been, and the Rockets even won the regular season series 2-1. But even having the upper hand in the regular season, Houston still fell short in the playoffs during a year in which the East representatives, the Lebron-led Cavaliers, did not have as much firepower outside of their all-time wing.

Houston took the season series the next season as well, winning two games and nearly winning the third. Those wins included one that took an extremely difficult shot by James Harden to steal a victory at the end. However, again, the regular season success did not translate to postseason wins as the Rockets fell in six games to the team that at the time could be considered their rivals.

The pandemic-shortened season was the last time the Rockets found any sort of success against the Warriors. They again won the regular season series 2-1 with the dynamic duo of James Harden and Russell Westbrook.

But when those two players departed following that season, the wheels fell off of the train.

The rebuilding Rockets lost all of their games against the Warriors, and none were really close at all. They lost by double-digits in every game and took a 26-point defeat in their final game of the regular season.

That was the beginning of the flip for this series. The Warriors had proven their success over the Rockets was a standard of the franchise, especially with all-time guard Stephen Curry.

Houston has yet to win another game against Golden State since the start of their rebuild. Even now, despite the team having one of the top defenses in the league and one of the best records, they still show an inability to defeat the team that has been the scourge of the Rockets franchise this decade.

Again, 15 straight losses. The Rockets have a few more chances to change their fortunes this season and avenge their two losses to begin the season. They’ll play each other three more times in the regular season, including a match to go to the NBA Cup Semifinals next week.

The Rockets have the talent and ability to finally break that losing streak against the Warriors, but it has to come together in the games. If it doesn’t, that streak could extend even further with no sight of an end.

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