Keep it basketball,” Ime Udoka says of his message. “It is just going back out there and doing what you have done all year to get us to this point.”

Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney were part of the dynastic Warriors teams that beat Houston in four playoff series between 2015 and 2019. While Payton was not around for those storied series, he still has a tried and tested strategy for maintaining his cool if heated moments arise during the series.

The seventh-seeded Golden State Warriors will try to become the 35th team in the past 20 years to upset a higher seed in the first round.