During the Houston Rockets’ practice a day before Game 1 of their first-round series against the Golden State Warriors, Ime Udoka hovers over the proceedings like a general priming his troops for battle.
On the nearside court at Memorial Hermann training center, he participates in a 3-point competition alongside fourth-year shooting guard Jalen Green. Minutes later, he’s on the other end of the facility, guarding veteran forward Dillon Brooks as he moves through pick-and-roll drills. After that, he’s back on the nearside, making sure the Rockets’ bigs meet their free throw quota. Then he brings the entire group together at center court for a final message before the team breaks for the evening.
“He’s a players’ coach. He loves to be in the mix,” Brooks tells me. “And then, he holds guys accountable. … It doesn't matter where you're at in the totem pole or if you get 30 minutes or you get no minutes. He's going to hold you accountable.”
Udoka has his fingerprints on every facet of Houston’s program. Under his tutelage, the Rockets have become one of the NBA’s best stories, climbing from 22 wins in 2022-23 to 52 in 2024-25 and blossoming into the 2-seed in a competitive Western Conference. The team’s mantra is “sometimes you, sometimes me, always us,” a philosophy that underpins an aggressive defensive scheme and an equal-opportunity scoring apparatus that helps them overcome the lack of a traditional no. 1 scoring option.
All season, Udoka has spurred a crowded rotation of proud veterans and promising young players to overachieve. Alperen Sengun became an All-Star, Amen Thompson became a dark-horse Defensive Player of the Year candidate, and the Rockets became one of the most unpleasant hangs in the NBA. Tough, physical, and relentless, this team exudes confidence that it can beat anyone, anywhere, at any time—even a four-time champion.
“I feel like we going to make a deep run into this,” Green tells me. “Our expectation is get to the Finals.”
Across the beltway, at the University of Houston, the Rockets’ first-round opponents project a different kind of conviction following their first practice in Houston on Saturday afternoon. Led by Stephen Curry, Golden State boasts the type of assuredness that comes from a decade-plus of institutional knowledge—and winning. The defining Western Conference rivalry of the late 2010s was dominated by the Warriors, but many of the current Rockets weren’t even in the league at the time. This series has new blood and plenty of competitive fire. Two weeks ago, Houston barged into Chase Center and trounced Golden State 106-96. Draymond Green incited a skirmish with Sengun, who went on to finish with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Curry was dogged all game by Thompson, who held the greatest shooter alive to just three points on 1-of-10 shooting.
“They are a 2-seed for a reason,” Curry told reporters this week. “Had an amazing year, and it seems like they know who they are.”
I ask Brooks how he views the Warriors. “Stepping stone,” he says. “Brilliant team. Championship franchise. A stepping stone for us.”
“They’re a great team,” Jalen Green adds. “They have history. They done been to the Finals. They got a championship, a couple of them. But they're not the same team anymore, obviously. They still got Steph. They got Jimmy over here. It's going to be a dogfight.”
The opening minutes of Sunday night’s game proved Green’s words prophetic, as the Rockets jumped to a quick 13-5 lead. For Houston’s second basket of the game, Sengun unleashed a poster dunk over Draymond Green that sent 18,055 fans into a frenzy and unlocked the contempt that Houston fans have been holding on to for the better part of a decade.
Thompson once again drew the assignment on Curry, a particularly special one for the all-world defender. A Bay Area native, Thompson grew up trying to mimic Steph. “I used to try to be doing his moves, between the legs, behind the back, stepback,” Thompson tells me. “I've watched him my whole life. I know how dangerous he is once he gets the ball, once he gets a little bit open.”
But it didn’t take long for Golden State to settle in and for the tide to turn. In the second quarter, the old heads from the Bay implemented a 3-2 zone, muddying up the game and forcing Houston to play in the half court. Jalen Green, Houston’s leading scorer in the regular season, was held to just seven points. Thompson, meanwhile, was served yet another lesson from Curry, who finished with 31 points, including several circus 3-pointers, poking an old wound for Rockets fans.
“There’s an advantage to staying composed in certain situations,” Gary Payton II tells me. “We’ve been here. We know what it takes to do what we need to do to advance. … Just come in, do our stuff, stay to the game plan, and play with purpose.”
In the second half, Houston used its brute-force attack to climb within four at one point. But in the end, the Warriors had something Houston didn’t: a trusted scorer to close out a game. In fact, the Warriors have two, in Curry and Jimmy Butler, who carried the Golden State offense after a furious Houston rally. As Golden State yelled expletives outside the visiting locker room, reveling in the spoils of victory, the Rockets were reflecting on the lessons of a fresh L.
“Possessions are really important,” Jabari Smith Jr. told me a few minutes after the game, still trying to process the loss. “Value possessions. I feel like we guarded more tonight, but just working harder on offense to get better shots and just trusting offense, really.”
If there were any lingering effects of Sunday’s loss, they weren’t evident at the Rockets’ next practice, a day before Game 2. Echoes of laughs, jokes, and dribbles permeated the practice facility as the Isley Brothers’ “For the Love of You” blared from the speakers.
“I think regardless, if we’re doing well or not,” Udoka says, “we are confident in our guys.”
Udoka’s words reflect a growing sentiment from Houston. Sure, the Rockets lost Game 1 at home, but they view the resilience they showed in the second half as proof they belong on this stage. They expect Fred VanVleet and Green to shoot better than 7-of-34 combined, and they’ve had two full days to review the film and plot up ways to get easier buckets. As long as they replicate the mindset they’ve displayed for the past six months, the Rockets believe they can compete with anyone, just as they have all season.
“People act like now, in this month of April, we’re going to regress or something,” Tari Eason says. “That we’re not going to be moving in the direction that we’ve been moving all year.”
“Look at the big picture,” Udoka says. “We didn’t play a great game, and we had our chances. Came out OK and then had a flat second quarter offensively, and all the things we talked about and showed [in Game 1] are very correctable. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel, just do a few things better.”
The stakes are fairly high. When the summer comes for the Rockets—whether it’s after three more games or three more series—they’ll hold some of the offseason's most valuable cards. Houston has accumulated a treasure trove of draft picks and young players over the past five years, which makes the team a prime candidate to go star-hunting. League sources have linked the Rockets to Phoenix’s Kevin Durant, but the summer trade market could have multiple elite players available. The question is what kind of player Houston needs, exactly. And who on the current roster will stay or go?
But for now, the Rockets are focused entirely on the task at hand. “I dreamed about this moment,” Green tells me. “All them long nights of being in the gym, extra days attending work, it’s all for this moment right here.”
Houston has the athleticism, tenacity, and will to compete with Golden State. They see the Warriors as an example of what they hope to achieve someday, and a Game 1 loss hasn’t dimmed that ambition. Following Game 1, I asked Brooks what he wants the legacy of this team to be.
“We want to win championships,” he responded. “We want to do what [Hakeem] Olajuwon did, the guys before us. They’ll see when we honor them for winning two championships. That’s the legacy we want.”
But first, the Rockets must follow the mantra it will take to get them there.
“Don’t forget to settle in,” Brooks says. “Be composed, and let’s tie this series up.”
