Earlier this season, Clint Capela claimed that his Houston Rockets had surpassed the Golden State Warriors and were now the team to beat in the Western Conference.

As you might imagine, that didn’t sit well with the Warriors.

"You hear from guys like Capela," Durant responded, per Dale Robertson of the Houston Chronicle. "Usually, he's catching the ball and laying it up off a pass from (Chris Paul) or James Harden. His job is not as hard. When your job is that hard, you know you can't just come out and say (expletive) like that. I don't expect that (candor) from CP3 and James and (Trevor) Ariza and the rest (of the Rockets) because they know how hard it is to come out and do it every night. Capela? Catch and dunk every night, it's pretty easy.”

But, catching lobs and dunking off pick and rolls is exactly what Capela’s job is.

"That's Clint's job,” Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "He'd better do that. Clint is going to be fed pretty good with the two guys we've got."

The two guys D’Antoni’s referring to are James Harden and Chris Paul, who have been dominant in their first season alongside each other in Houston. Since the team’s half court offense relies on either pick-and-rolls or isolations, Capela often times finds himself with high-percentage shots around the rim due to the respect from defenders that both All-Stars in the backcourt demand.

Although Capela’s minutes hover in the mid-to-high 20s against teams that generally play small (like the Golden State Warriors), his effectiveness on the court has not been an issue. For example, he’s averaged just 25.3 minutes in three matchups with the Warriors this season, but put up 15.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

Due to his size and length on the interior, he provides rim protection defensively and a high-percentage low-post option offensively. He has shot 65.2 percent from the floor this season, which leads the entire NBA heading into Saturday.

Gigantic potential

Overall, the sky’s the limit for Capela, according to his coach.

"He can get a little bit better at the foul line, and he can get better with his endurance," D'Antoni said, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN back in November. "When he does that, when you say what the modern center should look like, it'll have his picture there."

Set to become an unrestricted free agent, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey made it clear that the team will pay him anything. "We'll have him here as long as he'll have us," Morey said. "He couldn't price himself out.”

Although the Western Conference playoff picture is still muddled and insane at the moment, it’s important to consider how Capela matches up against other centers.

The opposition

Against the Warriors, he’d likely play limited minutes to due his inability to defend Draymond Green on the perimeter, but would face JaVale McGee and Zaza Pachulia on the interior. It’s safe to say that Capela would probably come out on top against those two veterans.

He’d square off against Jusuf Nurkic of the Portland Trail Blazers. Although Nurkic poses a threat due to his girth and physicality, Capela’s length and athleticism would likely make up for any deficiencies. He’d also be needed on the court to defend Nurkic, who usually hovers around 30 minutes per game if he stays out of foul trouble.

Capela would also square off against Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz, Steven Adams of the Oklahoma City Thunder or DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers if they met. In that case, he’d be tasked with playing extended minutes since all three of them are used to playing in the mid-to-high 30s in minutes per contest. Although he's not used to playing those types of minutes, he'd most likely have to, depending on the game script.

After all, Nene Hilario and Ryan Anderson are not at the point in their respective careers to defend traditional, backdown centers.

The San Antonio Spurs, Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans all have multi-dimensional centers. The Spurs will use a combination of LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol, both of which have versatile skills. Karl-Anthony Towns, Nikola Jokic and Anthony Davis would give Capela a run for his money defensively since they can shoot threes and spend time on the perimeter. But they'd have a hard time limiting him when he’s working with Harden and Paul on offense, as seen during the regular season.

At this point, everyone knows what Harden and Paul are able to do on a nightly basis. Everyone knows that the Rockets are going to attempt an absurd number of three-point shots. Everyone knows they’ll most likely be involved in high-scoring games.

But, no one really knows the extent to which Capela will be able to impact the game. If he gets rolling on the offensive end and does an adequate job on defense, the Rockets could have a legitimate chance to dethrone the Warriors and play for the championship.

If not, the team might not be able to extend their incredible regular-season success into anything substantial. That’s exactly why Capela is the team’s x-factor.

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