The Houston Rockets are just one game behind the Golden State Warriors for the final NBA Play-In Tournament spot in the Western Conference. Houston upset the Oklahoma City Thunder in overtime on Wednesday, earning an exciting 132-126 victory. Rockets forward Tari Eason had trash talk for the Warriors after the game, via ClutchPoints.
“Warriors, come out to play!” Eason said on his Instagram story. “Warriors, come out to play! Yeah!”
Eason's comments may be a bit surprising. After all, the Warriors have built one of the most legendary dynasties in NBA history over the past decade, while the Rockets have struggled in recent seasons. Nevertheless, Eason is clearly trying to catch Golden State's attention.
It should be noted that Draymond Green recently shot down any concern over the Rockets despite the tight standings in the Western Conference.
“I don't give a damn about the Rockets,” Green said previously.
As for Eason, the 22-year-old clearly cares about the Warriors. He wants to put them on notice as Houston surges up the NBA standings.
Tari Eason calls out Warriors as Rockets climb standings
Eason, who is in his second NBA season, is averaging 9.8 points per game on 46.6 percent field goal and 36 percent three-point shooting. He's also averaging 7.0 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and 0.9 blocks per outing across 21.8 minutes per game.
Eason is a versatile forward who has played a big role for Houston. He was selected by the Rockets with the 17th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. The Rockets have been rebuilding over the past couple of years and Eason is a player who they likely consider to be apart of their long-term future.
The Rockets are out-performing expectations during the 2023-24 season, however. They are 37-35 and have won 10 consecutive games. Meanwhile, the Warriors are just 5-5 in their past 10 contests.
It seemed like the teams who were going to be in the NBA Play-In Tournament and playoffs were set a few weeks ago. There weren't many contenders outside of the top ten teams in the conference. Then, however, the Rockets caught fire and are now just a game out of contention.
Houston's victory over the Thunder, who have been at or near the top of the standings for most of the year, is the perfect example of how much confidence the Rockets have right now.
“Oh, it was lit,” Jalen Green said after leading Houston to the win over Oklahoma City, via Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “Everybody was happy, celebrating, screaming. We fought for that one. We worked hard. That's how we should react after going 10-0. We'll still keep going. We got what, 10 more games left?”
Green also made a bold play-in game prediction.
“We're going to get a play-in game. We're going to keep going.”
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