Revisionist NBA history is a funny thing.

Every fan, every lover of the game has a different memory of how important events unfolded, and it very directly shapes how they view and consume the league today. 

“If Nick Anderson had just hit his free throws … If Mike hadn’t retired after the first three-peat … If Kyrie hadn’t gotten hurt in game one … If Kevin Durant hadn’t signed with the Warriors …”

Every action has a reaction and every “what if” devalues at least one championship, if not an entire dynasty. 

And in everyone on the Rockets’ mind – and many that cover the league, not to mention froths of NBA fans – from Daryl Morey down, if Chris Paul did not get hurt in game five of the Western Conference Finals last year, the Rockets would have won the NBA Finals.

And they have carried themselves all year as if they had.

In their mind, even though they didn’t win the championship, they were the best team, they deserved the trophy and they had the Warriors beat. 

I’m not here to analyze the merits of that argument. I will say we have seen the Warriors come back from worse deficits even before they brought Durant into the fold, and that the Rockets still had a double-digit lead in the first half, before their shooting imploded (you live by the three, you die by the three). 

But it is without question that Houston is and was an entirely different team with Chris Paul on the floor – as has been the case with every team he has been on since he entered the league in 2005 – and that he played a key role in the Rockets win in game four and five.

The Rockets show every day that they believe they were cheated out of a Finals berth last season and that they are still the best team in the league. 

And that makes them even more dangerous than last year.

And they have recently been playing up to their expectations for the first time all season, climbing to the third seed after winning their last nine games, not coincidentally starting with their impressive defeat of Golden State in Oakland a few weeks ago.

Much of both the Warriors and Rockets seasons have been shaped by their matchups.

It was after James Harden’s walk-off 30-footer on January 3 that the Warriors won 11 in a row. The Dubs won 17 of 19 between losses to Houston and have gone 3-4 since with losses to Miami, Orlando and Phoenix, and a loss to Boston that represented the worst home loss in the Steve Kerr era (33 points). 

They have also risen to the competition in key games recently, holding off Philly behind great fourth quarters by Stephen Curry and Draymond Green and bum-rushing Denver once again with a great Klay Thompson shooting show and Demarcus Cousins’ best all-around game in blue and gold. 

Their attitude and effort level changes game-to-game, very characteristic of a team that knows their future is not altered in any way by a Wednesday-night game in early March. 

It would be very Warriors to let the Rockets sweep them in the regular season to give them even a sliver of irrational arrogance. It would also behoove them to stomp out any chance of the Rockets making a run at the no. 1 seed again, as we have seen how big having home court advantage can be for them in the playoffs. 

Even still, of all of the teams in the NBA, they will not be intimidated by the Warriors.

But don’t remind the Rockets, who like every other team that is full of players without a championship, value every game against their stated enemy and measuring bar the same. 

This Wednesday’s game against the Rockets does not mean anything in respect to a potential matchup in the Western Conference playoffs, especially without Kevin Durant and with Stephen Curry in the midst of a massive slump, but it will be yet another reminder that these two teams are on a collision course to answer the what if that last year’s WCF opened up. 

But hey, why would the Rockets care about a regular season game in March when they beat the Warriors in the WCF last season.