Rockets Players Receive Golden State Media Memo Presuming a Series Sweep

After being summarily dismantled by the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 and going down 3-0 in the Western Conference Finals, the Houston Rockets could've mailed in Game 4 and headed to Midtown.

But pride kicked in Monday night, and on the back of a white-hot James Harden, the Rockets managed to stave off a series sweep with a 128-115 win at the Toyota Center.

After the scorched-earth disaster of Game 3, the evidence of life in Houston came as a surprise to many—the foremost being the Golden State public relations staff, who were already printing out memos detailing media availability following a sweep.

ESPN.com's Calvin Watkins published a story featuring pictures of the memos, which were distributed around the Rockets locker room after Game 4.

Watkins writes that the sheets were not given to media but are authentic:

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The memo read in part: "The Golden State Warriors will return to Oakland tomorrow (Tuesday, May 26) following their 4-0 series sweep of the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals."

The memo wasn't distributed to media, but its legitimacy was confirmed by Raymond Ridder, the Warriors' vice president for communications.

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Watkins reports that headshaking and wry smiles were the general reactions from Rockets players who saw the memos. Josh Smith said the sheets don't affect his motivation coming into Game 5 at Oracle Arena on Wednesday.

"They're confident in their team," Smith said. "It's not added motivation. We just got to go out there and play. I don't really feed into the whole mentally get your rah-rah hype. I just want to go out and play my game."

That's right. Josh Smith doesn't need a memo to motivate him to go out there and chuck up hellfire from behind the arc. He went 3-of-4 from deep against the Warriors in Game 4 and put up 20 points on the night.

So let it be known: Don't poke the bear that is Elimination Game Josh Smith, which is a real and terrifying thing to behold.

Dan is on Twitter. He eagerly awaits the Josh Smith-Stephen Curry duel.