Clint Capela Is Either A Genius Or He Just Signed The Rockets Death Wish

I think we’ve all had our share of fun over the last handful of hours since the Warriors dropped Game 5 to the Clippers, but let’s not get carried away. In all likelihood we’re going to be getting HOU/GS in Round 2 which stinks because it’s so early but also rules because everyone is healthy. If there’s one thing you should know about the Rockets, it’s that for years now they’ve been obsessed with figuring out a way to beat the Warriors. I’m not kidding, their GM Daryl Morey said as much

“It’s the only thing we think about,” Morey said on ESPN Radio’s The Ryen Russillo Show on Thursday. “I think I’m not supposed to say that, but we’re basically obsessed with ‘How do we beat the Warriors?’

“Last year, the Spurs knocked us off, so we’re very worried about the Spurs. They’re always one step ahead of every organization and guard us better than anyone. But we calculated it — it’s like 90 percent if we’re gonna win a title, we’ve gotta obviously beat the Warriors at some point. So we’re extremely focused on that. A lot of our signings and what we do during the year is based on that.”

That was from 2017, so yeah I don’t think much has changed. It’s also widely accepted that this HOU team has the best chance of any team out West to actually achieve that feat, and if not for an 0-27 performance from deep in Game 7 last year it probably would have already happened. So after punching their ticket last night for their chance at redemption, Clint Capela took to the podium and did the one thing that maybe you don’t want to do. He poked the dragon. I get being confident in your team and all that, it’s true they beat GS 3 out of the 4 times they played this year, but it just feels like a bad idea to be calling out the Warriors like this. I know they’ve had their issues but they are still the 1 seed for a reason.

You’ll remember that Capela and the Warriors had a little beef last year, when he came out and said that the Rockets were better . That didn’t sit well with Durant who had this to say

Capela averaged 10/10 in that series on 66% shooting and was 9-10 in that Game 7, but it is true that a majority of his offense comes from catching lobs. That’s the Rockets system and it’s pretty successful so I doubt he’s complaining.

If I’m a Rockets fan though, this would make me nervous. On one hand I love the confidence and that’s what you need to be able to knock off the champs, but on the other hand the last thing I want to do is give that GS team any bulletin board material. You could tell that’s what CP3 was thinking. History tells us that doesn’t usually work out for whoever runs their mouth. As a casual fan with no dog in this fight outside of my love for Harden given our ASU connection, I want as much fuel added to this fire as possible. So I say talk that shit if you’re the Rockets, but you sure as hell better back it up.