OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — From coach Mike D’Antoni to his stars James Harden and Chris Paul and all the rest of the Rockets, another chance at the champion Golden State Warriors has been on their mind for months.

Golden State and Houston will face off in the playoffs for the fourth time in five years — two of those previous matchups in the Western Conference finals won by the Warriors on the way to championships, in 2015 and last season.

“We haven’t come up on the winning side yet. It’s another opportunity for us to change that. We know how difficult it’s going to be,” Harden said Saturday. “… I think everyone wants a shot at the Warriors.”

Warriors Splash Brothers Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were listed as questionable for Sunday’s series opener after each sprained his right ankle Friday night against the Clippers.

Thompson might have spoken up about the Rockets rematch a little too soon. Top-seeded Golden State had yet to eliminate Los Angeles in the first round, then the Warriors failed to close it out at home in Game 5 before winning Game 6 on the road Friday.

Yet Thompson knows this is what everybody wants to talk about — and how could you not?

Next up is a potentially epic Western Conference semifinal between the two-time defending champs and their Texas nemesis.

Bring on Harden and Paul once more. With these two leading the way, the Rockets are largely considered the ones with the best shot to derail Golden State’s road to a three-peat.

Game 1 is Sunday at Oracle Arena.

“They’re going to be around. You’re going to have to go through them some way, whether it’s in the second round, third round,” D’Antoni said.

The Warriors have home-court advantage this time, while last year Houston grabbed the West’s No. 1 seed.

Golden State rallied from a 3-2 deficit to beat the Rockets on the road in Game 7. The Warriors eliminated the Rockets in a five-game first-round series during their 2016 runner-up run, and in five games for the Western Conference crown in ’15 on the way to the franchise’s first championship in 40 years.

“They’re a great team. They’ve got two Hall of Fame guards in the backcourt and everyone else has carved out a nice roll,” Thompson said. “We’ve had a ton of history with them the last five years in the playoffs and I know they’re just itching to get another shot at us, and when two teams meet like that when the stakes are that high it makes for the best basketball in the world.”

Last year, the Rockets played the final two games without Paul after he injured his right hamstring in Game 5. It was a huge blow.

LATE FRIDAY

WARRIORS 129, CLIPPERS 110

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 38 of his playoff career-high 50 points in the first half, Draymond Green had a triple-double, and the Golden State Warriors dominated in closing out the Los Angeles Clippers 129-110 Friday night to win their first-round series 4-2.

The Warriors advanced to the Western Conference semifinals and will face the Houston Rockets beginning Sunday in a rematch of last year’s conference finals. That’s when Houston let a 3-2 lead slip away and the Warriors went on to win their second straight NBA championship.

Golden State found itself in the unfamiliar position of trying to win a third road game in a playoff series for the first time in franchise history. Durant set the tone with his 38 points that tied for the second-most points in a half in a playoff game.

He was 12 of 17 from the floor, made all 10 of his free throws and sank four 3-pointers in leading the Warriors to a 72-53 advantage.