Rockets' Tilman Fertitta: Lakers, Clippers Don't Scare Teams Like Warriors Did

The Houston Rockets' last two seasons ended at the hands of the Golden State Warriors.

With that in mind, owner Tilman Fertitta's recent comments make sense. 

"None of us fear [the Lakers] or the Clippers or Denver like we feared Golden State," Fertitta told Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman over the phone on Monday. "It's not like we were scared of them. We could easily win the West this year or get knocked out in the first round."

Fertitta continued: "Both L.A. teams, Denver, Houston, we're all excellent teams. Just comes down to somebody gets hot and makes a shot. Our chances are as good as they've ever been."

The Rockets fell last season to the Warriors in the conference semifinals in six games. That was preceded by a seven-game Western Conference Finals loss to the Warriors in 2017-18. 

Entering Tuesday night's league action, 37-20 Houston is in fourth place in the Western Conference behind the 43-12 Lakers, 39-18 Denver Nuggets and 38-19 Clippers. The Rockets are 5-4 against those three collectively so far this season.

To Fertitta's point, the Western Conference is significantly more open than it had been in recent years with Golden State at the top—even after the Clippers added reigning Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and All-Star Paul George in free agency, and the Lakers acquired Anthony Davis to pair with LeBron James. 

However, Houston made a power move of its own by trading for Russell Westbrook. James Harden and Westbrook, reunited from their early years in Oklahoma City, have led the Rockets to the league's second-best offensive rating.

The best team in the league lives in the Eastern Conference, though. The 49-8 Milwaukee Bucks became the quickest team to clinch a postseason berth in NBA history.

"I think Milwaukee is head over heels above everybody else," Fertitta added. "We just need to get home court for the first and second rounds and see what happens."

The Rockets next play on Wednesday night against the 28-29 Memphis Grizzlies.