Preview: Warriors seek to end road losing skid today against Rockets

The Golden State Warriors are hustling their way back towards a respectable record, pulling to 7-9 after a victory over the Knicks of New York. The defending champions have sheepishly stumbled through their first sixteen games, crushing opponents at home (7-1 record) and going winless in eight tries in away games.

Ruh roh, they’re back on the road, this time taking a trip to Houston to face off against 3-13 Rockets.

Golden State Warriors at Houston Rockets

November 20th, 2022 | 4:00 PT

Watch: NBC Sports Bay Area | Listen: 95.7 The Game

That’s right Warriors fans, despite their road woes your team isn’t at the bottom of the conference, where Houston resides. Remember all those great battles between these two epic franchises during the playoffs a few years ago?

The starpower was outrageous, with MVP’s like Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and James Harden putting on electric performances. Throw in some Chris Paul and Draymond Green and you’ve got a recipe for epic postseason clashes, which as you also may recall were all won by Golden State.

And since those clashes, both teams have seen stars leave while highly touted lottery picks jump aboard. The Warriors lost Durant, but gained James Wiseman (#2 overall draft pick in 2020) and Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody (#7 and #14 respectively in 2021).

Houston lost Harden and Paul (and another MVP Russell Westbrook), but drafted Jalen Green (#2 overall pick in 2021) and Jabari Smith (#3 overall in 2022). They also trade the 16th pick in the 2021 draft, Alperen Sengun.

But after all those lottery balls dropped, a major difference between the two franchises is that the Warriors won another championship last season. That trophy adds to the three they won during the height of Houston’s most recent era of competitive squads.

Houston’s young trio of of Green, Smith, and Sengun are figuring out how to get the Rockets into the W column more often. The Warriors still retain their championship core of Curry, Green, and Klay Thompson, and it remains to be seen how their young lottery selections will impact their depth this season.