The Houston Rockets Are Closing In On the Golden State Warriors

Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and the Warriors are in serious danger of missing the playoffs.

Golden State Warriors v Minnesota Timberwolves / David Berding/GettyImages

The Golden State Warriors are in trouble. The Houston Rockets are currently one of the hottest teams in the NBA, winners of eight straight games, and have now climbed within one game of the Warriors with three weeks remaining in the regular season.

It's been a shocking development, especially because six of Houston's most recent victories came after Alperen Sengun was lost for the season. Sengun, the 16th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, was averaging 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game before he suffered a severe ankle sprain two weeks ago. The fact that Houston has done this after losing their leading scorer and rebounder is especially impressive.

Golden State is trending in the other direction. The Warriors have spent most of the season in the Play-In Tournament picture, even as some talking heads wonder how far the team can go in the postseason. Just last week ESPN's NBA Today had a discussion about whether it was time to write off the Warriors this season. Meanwhile, one podcaster in particular, The Volume's Draymond Green, called the Warriors "legit title contenders" as recently as late February.

Green said he doesn't see "any team out there that we couldn't beat," but that hasn't made it true. Eight different teams have beaten the Warriors since he said that. Green still remains defiant. Asked if the Warriors were paying attention to the surging Rockets after Golden State's latest loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Green said, "I don't give a damn about the Rockets."

Since the Warriors do have that one-game lead for the No. 10 seed, they technically control their own destiny right now. They're in a tough spot with four more games on their current road trip, but they feel like they can beat anyone so that shouldn't be an issue. Plus they have a head-to-head matchup against Houston on April 4 and who knows what the stakes of that game will be by then.

However the standings shake out, things have clearly changed in Golden State. While the Warriors won the championship in 2022, if the Rockets catch them this year or they fail to get out of the Play-In, they'll have missed the playoffs in three of the last five seasons. Compare that to the previous five seasons in which they went to the NBA Finals every year and won three titles.

The Rockets might be the least of their problems.

Stephen Douglas is a staff writer at The Big Lead.