The Emirates NBA Cup West Semifinal has officially been set, as the Houston Rockets punched their ticket to Vegas with an exhilarating win over the Golden State Warriors Wednesday evening. With this, they will be going up against the tournament's top-seeded OKC Thunder for a chance to advance to the final round and earn the $500,000 per player prize money.
While initial excitement and overall reception for the in-season festivities were found to be a bit underwhelming, as the tournament has advanced so, too, has player enthusiasm levels.
A recent example of this came directly after the Rockets clinched their Semifinal matchup against the Thunder, as star point guard Fred VanVleet publicly declared his readiness for the upcoming contest on his way back to the locker room with a six-word proclamation.
Fred VanVleet shares excitement to play Thunder in NBA Cup Semifinal
"I'm ready to go right now," VanVleet said.
What's exciting about the way things have turned out from a matchup standpoint is the fact that both the Thunder (19-5) and Rockets (17-8) are the top two seeds in the Western Conference standings.
On top of this, they are also the two best defensive teams currently in the association and rank within the top-five in overall net rating.
Over the years, these two organizations have developed a rather contemptuous rivalry.
From their ultimately lopsided trade dealings (Houston landed James Harden back in 2012 for essentially pennies on the dollar) to their legendary playoff bouts (who can forget their down-to-the-wire first-round spat in the 2020 Lake Buena Vista Bubble?!), these two have quite an extensive and polarizing history with one another.
However, while these specified examples all wound up seeing the Rockets come away as winners, over the last couple of seasons it's evident that the tides are starting to shift in Oklahoma City's favor.
Though their head-to-head record may be even (5-5 dating back to 2022-23), through all of last season and 24 games into 2024-25 it's evident that the Thunder are unequivocally the better-positioned club to vie for ultimate supremacy in the immediate and, frankly, long-term future.
Be it in a race for an NBA Finals win or an NBA Cup Championship, Oklahoma City is unanimously viewed as the more likely victor compared to the Rockets and, quite often, the rest of the league.
While Fred VanVleet may be excited to get the ball rolling on Houston's Semifinal matchup against the Thunder, odds and, frankly, the eye-test indicate the turnout may not be what he's hoping to see.