Rockets center Clint Capela wants to face Golden State in Round Two of the NBA playoffs, a statement that clearly made teammate Chris Paul uncomfortable at the podium Wednesday night.
James Harden led the way with 26 points as Houston polished off the Utah Jazz with a 100-93 victory in Game 5.
“To be the champion, you have to beat the champion,” Capela told reporters.
“That’s what I want,” center Clint Capela said of facing Golden State again. “I want to face them.”
Hearing this, Rockets teammate Chris Paul groaned, smiled and said, “Oh man, he’s going to be all over Bleacher Report.” The guard then turned to the media and said, “You can’t wait to tweet that.”
Capela did not back down, however, saying, “To be the champion, you have to beat the champion.”
As much as the Warriors are still struggling with the Clippers (Los Angeles won 129-121 Wednesday night to take that series to a sixth game on Friday), the Rockets left little doubt of what they expect to be waiting for them when the second round begins.
“If they come out of it, it’s going to be a great series,” [Mike] D’Antoni said of the Warriors. “We said all year, ‘Let’s run it back.’ Well, OK. I guess we’re going to run it back.”
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