Jason Terry Guarantees Rockets Will Win Game 5 vs. Warriors
Knowing the Golden State Warriors will be playing without Stephen Curry for the foreseeable future, per ESPN.com, Houston Rockets guard Jason Terry doesn't expect his team's season to end after Wednesday's Game 5 at Oracle Arena.
Per ESPN.com's Calvin Watkins, Terry guaranteed a Houston win and added he plans to get a tattoo of the Larry O'Brien Trophy if the Rockets win the NBA title.
Terry has a lot more confidence in his team than virtually anyone else. Even without Curry, Odds Shark lists the Warriors as 9.5-point favorites in Game 5.
Guarantees in sports have lost all of their power over the years. It was exciting and groundbreaking when Joe Namath guaranteed the New York Jets would beat the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.
It was thrilling when Mark Messier told everyone the New York Rangers will "win tonight" before Game 6 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Final against the New Jersey Devils.
The problem is so many athletes in the subsequent 22 years have tried to use the guarantee as a tool of motivation/confidence, etc., that it means nothing. Does anyone remember Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Anthony Smith?
If you don't, you're not alone. In 2007, as the New England Patriots were in the midst of a 16-0 regular season, Smith decided to guarantee that the Steelers would defeat the Patriots in Week 14, per ESPN.com. They lost 34-13.
Messier even revealed to Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post after first making his guarantee that he "would've liked to crawl back into bed and had it disappear, originally."
Athletes are always going to say they are always going to win, because if they don't believe it, there is no reason to play the game. It's great that Terry thinks the Rockets are going to triumph over the Warriors in Game 5.
Terry's words would mean more if the Rockets had showed up in the second half of Game 4—when the Warriors scored 65 points without Curry—to make it seem like they were focused on the task at hand.
