Houston faced the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs four times between 2015-19, and each time the Rockets were sent packing.On Sunday night, the No. 2 seed Rockets return to the postseason for the first time since 2020 and will face their old playoff nemesis — Steph Curry and the seventh-seeded Warriors in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Western Conference series.

BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Rockets host the Golden State Warriors to start the Western Conference first round. Houston and Golden State tied the regular season series 0-0. The Rockets are 31-21 in conference matchups. Houston is 22-23 against opponents with a winning record.

The Rockets ranked last in ball movement, averaging just 294 passes per 24 minutes of possession, and they were 25th in player movement (10.7 miles per 24). While Golden State led the league by a wide margin in assist rate (recording assists on 71.4% of their field goals), Houston ranked last (54.9%) by an even wider margin.