The Rockets and Warriors took care of business on Tuesday and will meet in the Western Conference Finals.

By finishing the regular season with the league’s best record, the Rockets have clinched home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. In my honest opinion, home court doesn’t matter much when the opponent is as talented as the Warriors. They’ve been through the wars and proven capable of winning on the road. They even climbed out of a 1-3 deficit against the Thunder in Kevin Durant’s last year with Oklahoma City. He couldn’t beat ‘em, so he joined ‘em.

What will it take for the Rockets to topple the Warriors? Here are five keys:

1) Defense! Defense! Defense!

The Rockets defense improved greatly this season. Chris Paul, PJ Tucker, and Luc Mbah a Moute have been excellent additions on this end. Holdover Trevor Ariza no longer is looked upon as their best perimeter defender. Clint Capela raised his stock as a defender as well. He’s now a viable rim protector and solid rebounder. The Warriors won’t beat themselves unless…

2) Capitalize on turnovers

The Warriors will have uncharacteristic spells turning the ball over at an alarming rate. You would think a team with four All-Stars, great chemistry, and tremendous ball handlers wouldn’t be prone to this. They are averaging 16.7 turnovers per game. That’s seven more than the Rockets (9.7 for the mathematically precise). Every turnover must turn into Rockets points.

3) The Draymond Effect

Draymond Green recently admitted to purposely getting under opponents’ skin – a self-professed pain in the ass. The Rockets can’t let Green do his thing. They must ignore his shenanigans and tomfoolery. Vets like Paul and Tucker can help keep the Rockets stay focused when Green tries to sucker them into doing somethin’ stupid. Things like that can sway a game, which can swing a series.

4) 40 Percent-plus From Three

The Rockets are averaging 36.2 percent from 3-point land in these playoffs. You can look it up, the Rockets win when they shoot better than 40-percent beyond the arc and hold their opponent below 30-percent. No doubt the Warriors have more prolific scorers, but the Rockets love to spread the wealth when it comes to shooting from long range.

5) Eric Gordon Must Outperform Klay Thompson

No one is disputing that Thompson is a dynamic offensive threat. He can lead the Warriors in scoring any given game. However, Eric Gordon is a Sixth Man of the Year award winner. He can be a deadeye scorer when he’s hot, an albatross when he’s not. If Gordon can outperform Thompson in offensive production, and contribute on the defensive end, the Rockets stand a good chance of getting past Golden State.

The Warriors have championship pedigree, star power, and firepower to overcome just about any obstacle thrown their way. However, there are a couple below-radar factors that will determine this series’ winner. One is health. The Rockets have been relatively healthy all year, while the Warriors have battled through injuries to key players. Another is home-court advantage. Joel Blank laid out his challenge for Rockets fans to arrive early and get loud. We know that Oracle Arena in Oakland is a hostile environment. Let’s turn Toyota Center into a house of horrors for the Warriors.