With the Warriors’ loss to the Bucks last night, Houston has officially clinched the one seed in the West and will have home-court advantage throughout the Western playoffs. Another win this weekend will lock in the best overall record, securing home-court in the Finals as well, if they should make it. This breaks the Warrior’s three year streak of being the regular season kings of the West. It was a tight race until Houston began to pull away in March thanks to a slew of injuries for Golden State. Houston still probably would have won the West even if Golden State was healthy. The offense led by Harden and CP3 is by far the most efficient and powerful in the league and their defense has been much better than in years past, ranking in the top ten. They will still have to prove themselves in the postseason, but securing home court is a huge step in the right direction. Since the playoffs were expanded to the 16-team format, 56% of the 68 teams to compete in the Finals were one-seeds. An incredible 84% of teams were either one or two seeds. Having home court has proven to be crucial in making it to the Finals and now the Rockets are all set to make their run. If we do see the Houston-Golden State matchup we all expect in the Conference Finals, that last home game might end up being decisive. With only seven games left in the regular season, the Rockets can rest, get their rotation set and get ready for the battle ahead.
