Despite 18 meetings with the Rockets in the two seasons prior to Thursday's game, Golden State guard Stephen Curry had no special animosity for the team the Warriors had eliminated the past two postseasons. He did think there was value in making a statement in the regular season given the potential for matchups in the postseason.
"There's a familiarity obviously, because you play high intensity and meaningful games against a team," Curry said. "We played them two years in a row. We know year-to-year teams that are most likely playoff bound and kind of have an understanding of what it's going to take to beat those kind of teams not only in the regular season, but in the playoffs.