Last night was the matchup we’ve been waiting for in the NBA. The Rockets and Warriors started the West Finals. The game was good for a half. Both teams traded threes. Harden and KD were both trying to one up each other. The lineups on both sides were kind of funky. Chris Paul did his usual cheap shot nonsense. Draymond Green got a tech one minute into the game. It had the makings of what we all wanted to see.

Then the second half started and Golden State did what they do. They pushed the gas pedal and didn’t let up. Any time Houston would try and make a run, the Warriors did something to slow them down. Harden had a good offensive game, but if he plays defense like last night all series long, he’s going to get exposed. Chris Paul played fine enough. He tried his dirty tactics and made some floaters, but it wasn’t enough. Clint Capela started very fast, but looked super gassed midway through the third quarter. The Rockets bench was okay, Eric Gordon and Gerald Green hit some threes, but they could have been better. Hell, even Mike D’Antoni coached an okay game. But, the Rockets still lost by double digits, at home. That is frightening.

Golden State is almost too good. Steph Curry didn’t even have to do much of anything because of how well KD and Klay played last night. They didn’t need Draymond to score, so all he had to do was focus on defense. Guys like Javale McGee and Zaza Pachhulia barely saw the floor. Kevon Looney got more time than them, and held his own playing one on one defense against Harden and Paul. It does need to be said, KD was amazing last night. He got anything he wanted at any time he wanted. He made those pull up jumpers look easy. It was basically practice for him. He also played solid defense. Klay did what he does, and knocked down open three after open three, and played lock down defense.

I know, it’s only one game. I know things can change come game 2. The Rockets have the best record in basketball this year. They have the MVP. They have 2 sure fire future Hall of Fame players. But, if I were a Rockets fan, game one would have me terrified. The Warriors only needed 2 guys, granted it was 2 of their best, and they won with ease in Houston. That’s another thing too, Houston didn’t play all that bad, and they still got smoked. Just wait until Steph starts unloading threes, and Draymond decides he needs to score a bit, and Iguodala locks down Harden and hits open threes. It’s going to be a massacre if that happens.

I still have hope that this can be a good, hard fought, fun series. I still think it can go 6 or even 7 games. The Rockets are too good to just roll over like the Raptors. But, last night should have been a big wake up call to the rest of the NBA that the Warriors are here, they've decided it’s time to give maximum effort and they have won 2 of the last three titles. Man were they dominate and scary last night. When this team is engaged, my god are they nearly unbeatable.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on all the internet.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.