NBA Playoff Insight

Happy Friday, everyone. It's the end of the week and that means it's time for another MLB $3,000 High Heater contest on DraftTeam. Have you got your entry in yet? Switching to the hardcourt, the Warriors hung tough yet again to take a 2-0 lead over Houston in the Western Conference Finals after beating the Rockets 99-98 Thursday. Golden State won both its home games -- by a combined five points. As usual, Stephen Curry continues to lead the way for the Warriors, pouring in a team-high 33 points. He was lights out, going 13-for-21 from the field -- including 5-for-11 from downtown -- although he also committed six turnovers. Curry is now averaging 33 points over the last three. The NBA regular season MVP had plenty of competition in this game in the form of MVP runner up James Harden. Harden again just missed a triple double with 38 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. He was also 13-for-21 from the field, plus went 9-for-10 from the line, while draining three treys and adding three steals and a block. It was a better all-around performance than Curry, but Harden couldn't get a shot up in the dying seconds with a chance to win the game, and that could come back to haunt the Rockets if they can't hold serve on their home court. After being pretty much invisible in Game One, Golden State center Andrew Bogut came up huge Thursday, piling up 14 points, eight boards, five blocks and four assists in 31 minutes. The rebounding and blocks were sweet, but it's been a long time since the big Aussie contributed offensively as well. That secondary scoring really helped the Warriors overcome Harden's brilliance. The Rockets came from down three games to one against the Clippers last round. Can Coach Kevin McHale's crew do it again? That is one tough road to hoe, but you know what they say: you're never in real trouble in a series until you lose a home game. Game Three in Houston on Saturday should bring incredible drama.

Three in the Key

• Warriors SF Harrison Barnes had a streak of six straight double-digit scoring games end as he was just 3-for-8 with four boards. He did manage four assists and two steals.
• Golden State SG Leandro Barbosa tied his playoff high by playing 15 minutes, but was used mostly as part of a platoon to try to stop Harden. The Brazilian Blur did manage three assists and a steal.
• The Rockets have dropped to 0-6 vs. the Warriors this season. Their last win in Golden State? December 2013. Needless to say, if that streak isn't busted, this will be the end of the line for Houston.

By RotoRob.com

What's next for the Clippers after falling short again?

It's just about time for you to set your Daily Fantasy Baseball lineup. By all means, don't let us stop you, but feel free to return shortly to review Sunday's huge Game Seven in the Rockets-Clippers series with a trip to the Western Conference Finals on the line. The Rockets jumped out to a 17-point lead through three quarters and were able to cruise home for the win to stamp their ticket in the Conference Finals for the first time in almost two decades. In fact, Houston never trailed in this game as it completed a shocking recovery from a 3-1 series deficit that has left L.A. wondering what it has to do to get to the next level. Coming from down three games to one is a lot more commonplace in the NHL for some reason; in the NBA this was just the ninth time it's ever happened. Remember that the key game in this series was likely Game Six, when the Clippers were still clinging to a 3-2 series lead, but blew a 19-point lead in losing that game. Don't blame Clippers center DeAndre Jordan for the loss. We already discussed what an amazing rebounding season he had, and he was in beast mode on Sunday, scoring 16 points with 17 boards, four steals and three blocks. Jordan flushed an impressive dunk to pull the Clippers back within eight points with 85 seconds remaining, but he missed the free throw and Houston iced it 30 seconds later on Trevor Ariza's trey. It will be fascinating to see what happens to Jordan this summer in the wake of rumors that he and Chris Paul had a falling out this season. For the Clippers, questions begin anew as they still have never made it to the Western Conference Finals. This team was supposedly built for a title run, but in falling short again, it will be fun to see what moves are made this summer to retool the roster.

Three in the Key

• There was nothing wrong with Chris Paul's effort in the second half of this series as he put together four straight double-doubles, on Sunday adding five boards, four steals and two treys.
• The Western Conference Finals, pitting the Rockets against the Golden St. Warriors, begins Tuesday. We discussed how long it's been since Houston got here; for the Warriors, it's been even longer -- 1976 marking their last appearance.
• The last time a 3-1 series was erased in the NBA was 2006, when the Suns came back against the Lakers.