Despite the fact that the Houston Rockets are the No. 1 seed with home-court advantage in the Western Conference Finals, the Golden State Warriors enter the series as significant favorites, both in Las Vegas and in the venue of public perception, to reach the NBA Finals once again. With that in mind, some might wonder if the Warriors might have at least some trouble finding proper motivation on the heels of the 2017 NBA Championship but, according to head coach Steve Kerr, that will not be an issue.
Steve Kerr asked about the Rockets title hunger compared to the Warriors, who have two, so maybe not as much hunger: "I like where we are. Our guys have rings. That's a good position to be in." pic.twitter.com/ggzSS6GZhZ
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 10, 2018
“I like where we are. Our guys have rings. That’s a good position to be in,” Kerr said to the assembled media on Thursday. “To me, the hardest championship is the first one. As an individual player, or as a team. You don’t know. You don’t quite know if you can do it.
“Once you get the first one, there’s a little bit of house money,” Kerr continued. “But you want it again because it’s an unbelievable feeling. So, I like our position. We’re going to go in here knowing we’re the defending champs. Knowing we’ve got a couple of championships here in these last few years. Let’s go get another one. It’s a nice feeling to have and to go into a series with.”
It is tough to blame Kerr for taking comfort in the experience of his team, particularly with the flashes of brilliance Golden State displayed during the earlier portion of the NBA Playoffs. In addition, the Warriors and Rockets were seemingly always destined to meet in this particular spot and, to that end, Golden State has been hearing about how Houston was the best challenger to their throne for months.
Given their performance over the full body of 82 regular season games and the playoffs, there might be some worry with regard to the Warriors actually flipping the switch and giving consistent effort in a situation like this. However, Kerr knows his team quite well and it is tough to argue against a coach of his pedigree when discussing the merits of having previously operated in a championship-winning environment.
