The Golden State Warriors were set to matchup against the Houston Rockets in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup on Wednesday, and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was very honest about his opinion of the Rockets’ court color scheme for the NBA Cup.
The Rockets have a bright red color scheme for their NBA Cup court, and ahead of the Warriors game for a spot in the semifinals, Steve Kerr likened the court to descending into a part of the afterlife.
“I told all our coaches that I felt like I was descending into the depths of hell,” Kerr joked. “A deep red hue on the floor, it’s a little disconcerting. I thought I had been better in my life, I didn’t think I deserved that fate.”
The Rockets’ cup court is certainly strong on the eyes, but it’s helped them advance to the elimination round of the NBA Cup with a chance to head to Las Vegas for the semifinals and beyond.
For both teams, it’s their first appearance in the elimination round. Last season during the cup’s inaugural year, both the Rockets and Warriors finished with 2-2 records in the group stage. This season, the Rockets finished 3-1 in West Group A and the Warriors finished 3-1 in West Group C.
Warriors and Rockets among West’s best
The Warriors and Rockets reaching the elimination stage of the NBA Cup is sort of a microcosm of what the Western Conference has looked like this season.
As it stands, the Rockets are currently third in the West with a record of 16-8. The Warriors are currently fifth in the West standings with a record of 14-9. Both teams are playing better basketball than they did last season. They both missed the playoffs with the Rockets missing it outright and the Warriors losing the play-in to the Sacramento Kings.
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But the Warriors and Rockets look like they will be factors in the West playoff race this season.
In the Warriors case, they have been bolstered by new additions such as Buddy Hield and Kyle Anderson, while getting crucial development from Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody. For the Rockets, they’ve continued to develop their young core which includes Alperen Şengün and Jalen Green.
It’s been only a one season playoff drought for the Warriors who made it to the Western Conference Semifinals in 2023. But for the Rockets, it’s been four consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs. The last time they made the postseason was the bubble in 2020 when they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games in the West Semifinals.