The Houston Rockets took a big step forward last season, earning the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference Playoffs and knocking down a ton of three-pointers in the process, but they still came up short, falling to the San Antonio Spurs in the conference semifinals.This offseason, they tried to address that by trading for star point guard Chris Paul, who will now team up with James Harden (and potentially Carmelo Anthony if a trade can be worked out) to try to take another step forward starting this fall.The ultimate goal, of course, is to build a roster that can go toe-to-toe with the Golden State Warriors, who have assembled a super-team featuring Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.At his introductory press conference on Friday, CP3 said he absolutely believes the Rockets can defeat the Warriors this year and quoted the famous Talladega Nights character Ricky Bobby (played by Will Ferrell) when asked about taking down Golden State:

“Absolutely - me and James (Harden) talked about it," Paul says. "Some people are built different, and kudos to them who are like that, but I’m built different. I always say I’m the most competitive person I know, and look at my wife, she rolling her eyes probably. Some people may say that’s a good thing, some people may say it’s a bad thing, but I’m ultra-competitive, so there’s no reason in playing unless you’re playing to win.

“I think Ricky Bobby said it best, ‘If you’re not first, you’re last,’ right? Right? Straight-up. We have one goal here, and that’s to win.”

With Harden and Paul both being ball-dominant guards, it'll be interesting to see how well they work together, as the start of the season will likely be tough. The two superstars will need to learn how to play together quickly, though, if they're going to reach the lofty goals they have.

The Warriors have won two titles in three seasons and watched as Durant slid effortlessly into their lineup last year and took the reins as Golden State went on an all-time great playoff run, sweeping their way to the Finals before knocking off the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games.

In order for the Rockets to put a halt to the Warriors' run of dominance, Harden and Paul will need to form a Shake and Bake-like duo. Otherwise, the Rockets almost certainly won't be first, which, by Paul's (and Ricky Bobby's) logic, would make them last.