One thing is clear through three games of the power-packed Western Conference finals between a Golden State team that has won two of the past three championships and a Houston team that had a league-best 65 wins.

If either team is off its game Aqib Talib Jersey , a blowout could ensue.

The Rockets found themselves on the wrong end of that equation in a 126-85 defeat in Game 3 that was the most lopsided loss in their postseason history and the biggest win ever for the Warriors, who took a 2-1 series lead.

Now the big question heading into Game 4 on Tuesday night is which team has the edge if both are clicking.

”I kind of expected that yesterday, that it would be that type of game,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. ”We didn’t bring our best game. But I’m hoping for the best. I hope we play great and them bad. Never know.”

In a possible bit of gamesmanship, D’Antoni said the pressure in Game 4 is squarely on Golden State’s shoulders despite the fact Houston trails in the series. He hopes that helps his players stay loose and play with an extra ”giddy-up” in their step.

”We should always have a swagger,” star guard James Harden said. ”But even more importantly, tomorrow. They’ve got to try to take a 3-1 lead going on the road. Tie this thing up going back to our crib.”

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he welcomes the pressure, knowing his team has shown a tendency to lose focus when there’s not as much on the line. That may have contributed to Golden State coming out flat in a 127-105 loss in Game 2 after winning the series opener by 13 points.

Star Kevin Durant has another theory for why there have been so many lopsided games this postseason. There has been only one Western Conference playoff game this month decided by fewer than eight points and there hasn’t been a single playoff game in either conference decided by single digits since May 9 heading into Monday night’s action.

”The 3-pointer’s such a huge part of the game now that it could easily go from six to 16 or 17 in a matter of seconds in the game,” Durant said. ”So I wouldn’t say … the games aren’t good. It’s just the fact that the style of play causes teams to pull away a little faster.”

The Warriors might have to take the court in Game 4 without a key contributor. Forward Andre Iguodala is doubtful with a sore left knee. If Iguodala can’t go, the Warriors will be down a key defender against Harden and a playmaker on offense, forcing Kerr to make another adjustment after the move to put Iguodala in the starting lineup provided a spark in the second round against New Orleans.

One factor in Golden State’s favor is that Stephen Curry might have found his outside shot in the second half Sunday. After making just 3 of 20 3-pointers in the first 10 quarters of the series Michael Roberts Jersey , Curry hit 4 of 5 from long range after intermission Sunday, including a 30-footer.

”I work on it all the time, and I made it before,” Curry said. ”I had amnesia, really. In that moment, in my head am I 0-for-0, or am I 10-for-10 in my head? I’m feeling good in that moment. Just shoot it. You can’t second-guess your first instinct in that moment. So it’s obviously good to see it go down, and we got a little boost from that possession.”

That type of short-term memory is just what the Rockets need after the Game 3 blowout, even if D’Antoni did plan to hold a film session to go over the mistakes for his own sanity more than as a teaching tool.

His players know they weren’t aggressive enough on both ends and lacked the focus needed to beat a Warriors team that is nearly unstoppable when at its best this time of year. But the Rockets have the confidence built in a stellar regular season and first two rounds to believe they have the tools to pull it off.

”Just go out there and do it,” Harden said. ”It’s pretty simple. Not try to overcomplicate things. Just go out there and do what we do. Obviously, do the opposite of what we did last game Dante Fowler Jr Jersey , but it’s not hard at all.”

NOTES: Iguodala banged his knee in the fourth quarter Sunday, Kerr said. … Kerr plans to speak to the league about Draymond Green’s double-technical with Trevor Ariza in the fourth when Ariza shoved the Warriors forward after they traded words.

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AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley in Oakland contributed to this report.

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TAMPA, Fla. — Four games into the Eastern Conference final, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals are tied 2-2, but getting there hasn’t been anything as expected.

The road team has won all four games, with Washington dominating its way to a 2-0 lead in Tampa, only to see the Lightning pull back even with two road wins themselves.

The Capitals are 7-1 on the road and 3-5 at home in the playoffs, so do the Lightning really have an advantage with two of the remaining three games at Amalie Arena?

“It seems like in this series, the pressure shifts on the home team,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper, whose team is 5-1 on the road in the playoffs against the New Jersey Devils Mike Ditka Jersey , Boston Bruins and Capitals. “The big, glaring 0-4 is staring at you. Home-ice advantage has been a disadvantage in this series. Having said that, I’d rather have Game 5 at home. I believe we’ll be a different team than we showed up in Games 1 and 2.”

In a battle of division winners, the Lightning are in the conference final for the third time in four years and the Capitals are here for the first time in 20 years.

Which will be the advantage to push one team to the Stanley Cup final?

Capitals forward Tom Wilson said the advantages of home ice are lessened in the playoffs, when both teams have ample energy and intensity because of what’s on the line.

“It doesn’t really matter this time of year, whether you’re home or away,” Wilson said after the Game 4 loss. “Every game is huge and the emotion is going to be there. Road, home, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to go after it and hopefully get the next one.”

Special teams have been at the center of Tampa Bay’s turnaround, as well as stellar play in net from Vezina Trophy finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Lightning have gone 6 of 14 on their power play in the series, improving on the success rate for what was the NHL’s best power play in the regular season.

Even more impressively Demarcus Walker Jersey , Tampa Bay’s penalty kill, which ranked in the bottom five of the league in the regular season, went 7 of 7 on killing off Capitals power plays in the last two games. Three of those came in the final eight minutes of the first period Thursday night, as Tampa Bay held onto a 2-1 lead.

Steven Stamkos has dominated on the power play — six of his seven postseason goals and six of his nine postseason assists have come on that unit, matching Nikita Kucherov for the team scoring lead with 16 total points each.

Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin both have 10 goals to pace the Capitals, who now have the confidence that comes with playing on the road.

Tampa Bay tied for the NHL lead with 25 road wins in the regular season, but it will need to win a home game to win this series. Overall in the playoffs, road teams are 40-34, on pace to challenge the NHL record for most postseason wins by a road team — 47 in 2012.

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