Kurtenbach: Surprise! The old, battered Warriors vanquished the Rockets again

You can count on three things in this life Death taxes and the Golden State Warriors beating the Houston Rockets in the playoffs Yes the lead-up to the Warriors Tournament achievement was anything but straightforward The Warriors went up - in the series only to lose back-to-back games leaving their season on the line Sunday But the final outcome It was downright inevitable Old battered and on the road the Warriors only trailed the Rockets for seconds Sunday winning - Beating Houston in big games after all is what they do even after all these years Carlos Avila Gonzalez San Francisco Chronicle via AP Tonight was as good as it gets in terms of focus and the players executing the contest plan and showing resolve for minutes Warriors coach Steve Kerr declared Encounter on the road if you don t bring it you re going home and our guys brought it The Dubs are now -for- all-time against the Rockets in the playoffs New Rockets or old Rockets it doesn t matter The Warriors just have a deep dislike of that shade of red The Warriors beating the Rockets then led by James Harden in and was peak basketball And it was a real rivalry the kind that all others are compared to Ultimately the Warriors dominance forced the Rockets to tear down their entire squad and rebuild Houston couldn t beat the Dubs so they decided to punt a meager years and try again when Steph Curry and Draymond Green had aged out of contention Surprise Green yelled four times as the Warriors left the court Sunday six years after the squad s last Toyota Center tunnel celebration You might remember it After the Dubs down Kevin Durant finished off the Rockets in Encounter of the second-round the de facto Western Conference Finals the Warriors celebrated as if they won the title It was the ultimate prove-it challenge for both organizations and the Dubs were victorious yet again I remember standing in that very same hallway listening in to an impromptu media session from Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta We re gonna kick their a at specific point I can promise you that Fertitta declared That was days ago Sunday The Warriors are still waiting on that whoopin Photo by Tim Warner Getty Images Related Articles NBA playoffs Warriors vs Timberwolves series schedule TV information Warriors eliminate Rockets in Challenge behind Hield s hot start Curry and Butler s closing touch Legendary Syracuse zone guru Jim Boeheim explains why Rockets system is challenge changer vs Warriors The Warriors say they re excited about Tournament Don t believe them Rockets Steven Adams has turned dirty work into an art form vs Warriors Perhaps next year is the year for the young Rockets who earned particular kudos with their fight to pull the series to seven games Perhaps not Close doesn t mean much in this binary world of professional basketball Close only gets you to a Contest And that s when it s time to bring it The Warriors consistently do It s inevitably fun winning in this city and winning in this arena I saw Fred VanVleet made a comment earlier in the series that this Ain t that group ' Green noted It s that organization though And while Harden the ultimate Meeting choker is no longer around his replacements save for -year-old Amen Thompson didn t cover themselves in glory Sunday It wasn t as if Curry was the one teaching them a lesson in the early goings he had three points in the first half Though he did affect winning in other options than scoring Nor was it trade-deadline coup Jimmy Butler either He had eight at the break and looked as if he was saving his power for the second half No it was Buddy Hield who ended the Rockets season in Contest and he did it with a brilliant two-way performance Now that s a surprise Photo by Tim Warner Getty Images Related Articles Photos Buddy Hield leads Golden State Warriors past Houston Rockets in playoff Encounter NBA playoffs Warriors vs Timberwolves series schedule TV information Warriors eliminate Rockets in Battle behind Hield s hot start Curry and Butler s closing touch Legendary Syracuse zone guru Jim Boeheim explains why Rockets system is contest changer vs Warriors Gary Payton II out for Warriors Match against Rockets with illness Yes Hield channeled prime Klay Thompson on Sunday knocking in an NBA Competition -record nine -pointers on only attempts and holding Rockets guard VanVleet who had been killing Golden State the last scant games to points and only shots Hield had two blocks and a steal in Match Butler and Curry came around late to seal the deal Curry even hit a Night-Night a celebration he hadn t invented the last time the Warriors won a playoff series in Houston I m blown away by Steph s competitive fight Kerr declared At doing this forever Four rings Gold medal Everything he could possibly want in his life he s got He has nothing to prove and yet he s going to come in and try to prove something every single night Especially on the nights he plays the Rockets it seems Curry finished with points came in the fourth quarter But between the best battle of Hield s life and Green s vintage two-way performance his first of the series the Warriors controlled everything on Sunday The Rockets didn t have the gusto or the experience to fight through the formidable Warriors If they couldn t beat Hield and Green they weren t going to beat Curry and Butler in the final frame And to think The Rockets and their fans definitively thought they had the Dubs solved They really thought this their shot to take down the champs The Warriors might have rope-a-doped them a bit too But this was not the year I don t know if that year will ever come for Houston And as for those Dubs obituaries They ll have to wait just a bit longer to be published One thing about this league you re never done proving who you are until you re done perfectly Finished Green who turned in a virtuoso defensive performance and scored points disclosed And these Warriors are not finished just yet