5 reasons why the Houston Rockets will beat the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs

#1 CP3 and Harden and their motivation this season

Chris Paul will be looking to end his playoffs mishaps

A lot of the flak that Chris Paul and James Harden receive is because of the fact that they haven't led their teams to a deep playoffs run single-handedly. Harden had the worst game of his NBA career in game 6 against San Antonio last season when Houston got blown out by 39 points on their home court.

But the greatest players in the game have the unique ability to turn this external demotivation and dismissive attitude against them into an advantage, and CP3 is one of the few players in the league capable of playing with an extra edge.

Paul has a career stat line of 21.4 points, 9.4 assists, and 2.2 steals per game in the playoffs at an astonishing 3.48 assists/turnover ratio. This season is not when he lets those stats drop, playing alongside the best backcourt partner he has ever had.

Harden, in turn, finally has a player he can combine with on a possession-to-possession basis during clutch time, conserve his energy and knock down open jumpers when the ball is dished to him.

If the duo carries their already apparent synergy into the playoffs, the Rockets are built just perfectly to take the Warriors down in 7 games - particularly if they snag homecourt advantage which they are now in a position to do with 15 games remaining.