The conference finals are all set up and chalk has held up as the top two seeds in each conference have survived and advanced to the NBA’s Final Four. Let’s take a look at the Western Conference Finals match-up between the top two seeds, the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets.

Western Conference Finals (seed): (2) Houston Rockets vs. (1) Golden State Warriors. GSW won season series 4-0

Golden State Warriors

How They Got Here: After winning a franchise and league best 67 games, and sweeping their first round series against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Warriors were faced with real adversity in the Western Conference Semifinals against the Memphis Grizzlies. After dominating the Grizzlies in Game 1, Golden State fell in Game 2 thanks to the play of Mike Conley, who returned from an eye injury, and as a result of implementing their classic grind-it-out game, Memphis made the Warriors look very out of sorts. In Game 3, things didn’t get better, and for a while it looked as if the Warriors did not have the tools to make the necessary adjustments and persevere through the challenges they were facing at the hands of Memphis [Memphis Grizzlies Up 2-1 On Golden State ; Should Warriors Hit Panic Button?].

Game 4 is where the series turned around for Golden State. The Warriors’ coaching staff, led by Head Coach Steve Kerr, changed up their defensive approach and basically dared Tony Allen to beat them from the outside. If Allen making shots was going to have Memphis winning the series, Kerr was okay with that, but he knew Allen wasn’t a sharpshooter who could do damage to the Warriors on the offensive end.

Golden State also returned to their great ball movement that helped them separate themselves from the rest of the league throughout the regular season. Their three straight closing wins made the Warriors even more fearsome than they appeared early on in the Memphis series. Their defense stepped it up a notch, the offense finally found its rhythm, and Stephen Curry started showing why he won league MVP.

Keys To The Series: Golden State relies heavily on their perimeter game to open up the floor for them offensively. When Curry and Klay Thompson are hitting outside shots and their confidence grows, it usually spells trouble for any opposing squad. If those two get hot, the rest of the team gains confidence, and their offensive attack is free-flowing and beautiful to watch, which would mean deep trouble for Houston. Guys like Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala can also do damage from the outside with jump shots and three-point FGs.

Andrew Bogut, David Lee, and Marreese Speights will have to play big for the Warriors on the inside, and try to slow down Dwight Howard in the paint and rebound effectively. Howard will have the size and strength advantage down low, but the Warriors can throw multiple defenders on him in hopes of giving him different looks, being unpredictable with their defense, and making it difficult for him to score down low.

The Warriors must also limit their live ball silly turnovers to keep Houston from running with their tremendous athletes on the front line. If the Warriors play their game, and the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Steph Curry plays like he has been throughout the regular season, they should come out on top in this series. But, if they’re sloppy with the ball, and if the games are mucked up, the Rockets will have a significant fighting chance at winning.

Houston Rockets

How They Got Here: The Houston Rockets are seemingly playing with house money. They cruised through their first round series against the Dallas Mavericks, winning the series in five games (4 games to 1). In the Western Conference Semifinals series against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Rockets were. let’s face it, dominated for about the first four games even though they won one of those four.

They lost Game 1 against the Clippers, who were without their superstar point guard, Chris Paul, by 16 points. They were down by double digits in Game 2 as well before coming back and winning the game by six points. When the series shifted to L.A., the Rockets were dismantled in Games 3 and 4 by 25 and 33 points respectively. The Clippers didn’t bring much effort in Game 5 when the scene shifted to Houston in the first closeout game and Houston won that game convincingly.

In Game 6, the Clippers had a 19-point lead with about two and a half minutes left in the third quarter. With that lead, the fourth quarter and the series seemed a foregone conclusion right? Wrong. In one of the most amazing comebacks I have ever seen, coupled with one of the most epic collapses in NBA history, the Rockets dug deep and found a way to not only come back from the big deficit, but win Game 6 by 13 points. Corey Brewer and Josh Smith were huge in the Rockets’ comeback, which shockingly took place with James Harden on the bench for the entire fourth quarter.

The Rockets stunning Game 6 win set up Game 7 back in Houston, where James Harden and Dwight Howard put their team on their backs, and carried the Rockets to the Game 7 and series win.

Keys To The Series: The bench has been very crucial, primarily because Corey Brewer is one of the team’s key scorers. He turned into a superstar during the thrilling comeback in Game 6 against the Clippers. Backup point guard Pablo Prigioni was outstanding in his play off of the bench against the Clippers. as a decent shooter and rugged defender. Terrence Jones has looked better since Head Coach Kevin McHale decided to have him come off of the bench, and the very athletic Clint Capela is Howard’s key backup center.

As good as James Harden is, Houston doesn’t have many scoring options right now, and need more consistency against a team with as many shooters and scorers as Golden State. Harden must have a great series in scoring, getting to the free throw line, putting the Warrior players in foul trouble, and he needs some help from the rest of his team in order to seriously challenge the Warriors. Foul trouble may also play a role in this series as Harden and Howard can handcuff the Warriors with drawing fouls on key Warrior players. I do know this, if Brewer, Jones, and Smith have poor performances, it will definitely be a short series for Houston.

The season series against the Warriors was not ideal for the Rockets. The Warriors won all four match-ups by an average of 15 points with their largest defeat being by 25 points. Needless to say, Golden State owned Houston in the season series. However, Houston can take comfort in knowing they didn’t have their big fella inside, Dwight Howard, to control the paint on defense and be effective on the offensive end for two of those four games. Also, Houston knows they are being counted out again in this series, just as they were in the previous series with the L.A. Clippers. Houston has confidence that they can overcome adversity with their backs against the wall as they showed in that epic comeback (L.A. collapsed too) from being down 3-1 to the Clippers.

Prediction: Golden State in 6. The Warriors lethal offensive weapons and improved defense will prove to be too much for the Rockets.

Game 1 of this best of seven series is tonight in Oakland, 9:00 PM ET on ESPN.