Like clockwork, the Golden State Warriors have taken care of business against the Houston Rockets in the playoffs. On Sunday, they avoided a 3-1 choke job by taking a 103-89 win against the Rockets on the road — with Buddy Hield proving to be the biggest difference-maker after he dropped 33 points on nine made threes in the biggest game of the Dubs' season to this point.

Over the past decade, the Warriors have simply been the roadblock the Rockets couldn't find a way to get around. This playoff series win marks the fifth time the Warriors have eliminated the Rockets from championship contention, which is causing Houston fans major grief exacerbated by a crippling sense of dread.

And in so doing, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green both made history by being just the 20th and 21st players in NBA history to ” beat the same opponent 5 times in a best-of-7 playoff series” according to Sportradar via Josh Dubow of AP.

There was some hope for Rockets fans that perhaps with a new core blossoming and Curry and Green being older, they can finally break their duck against the Warriors and set themselves free from the curse for good. But regardless of who the Rockets' best players are, be it James Harden and Dwight Howard, Harden and Chris Paul, or Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson, it seems as though the Warriors simply have their number.

This is not to say that the Warriors weren't pushed to the brink. This Rockets team definitely overwhelmed the Dubs with their suffocating defense and frenetic athleticism at times. But in the end, the Dubs' veteran poise, led by Curry, Green, and the newly-acquired Jimmy Butler, won out over the Rockets' youthful verve.

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Warriors prove that the more things change, the more they stay the same

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) reacts after making a basket during the first quarter of game seven of the first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center.
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At this point, the Rockets are hoping that they no longer run into the Warriors in the playoffs. Even when the Rockets built a 65-win team that was specifically designed to beat the Kevin Durant-reinforced Warriors back in 2018, they missed 27 straight threes in Game 7 and lost the plot in what remains the franchise's best chance to win a championship since 1995.

And while many things have changed for both the Warriors and Rockets since their battles during the mid-to-late 2010s, the three constants that have remained are Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Steve Kerr, all of whom could probably stake an ownership claim in the Rockets franchise.