* Tonight on TNT: Rockets vs. Warriors, Game 3 (8 ET)

OAKLAND, CALIF. -- It’s getting fierce between the Warriors and Rockets -- with the jostling for position, the well-placed jabs, the intensity, the strong-arming and the swagger.

And the action on the floor isn’t too bad either for a series that’s all tied up.

Yes, away from the game, these two are now talking a good game. The spice level escalated a bit when Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said Houston “can beat anybody, anywhere, anytime” just before the Western Conference finals shifted to Oakland. He presumably means the Rockets can own either of the next two games, or both, at Oracle Arena starting Sunday (Game 3 on TNT, 8 ET), where visiting teams are known to suffer badly.

And why shouldn’t he feel frisky about that? The Rockets were road-tested all season and into the playoffs and did kick off 2017-18 by spoiling championship ring night for the Warriors here back in October in a distant prelude to the conference finals.

Just as well, the Warriors believe their Game 2 issues, mainly a lost touch from deep by Steph Curry and shoddy defense, were nothing but lapses and that a return to normalcy is on tap, even against the team with the NBA’s best record who ran them off the floor three days ago.

Houston uses a balanced attack to rout the Warriors in Game 2.

What say you, Klay Thompson?

“I’ll be better. Guarantee it.”

And Steve Kerr?

“We’re very confident going into (today).”

Surely Draymond Green of all people backed away from saying anything bold, right?

“We’re at our best when we feel threatened. And we feel threatened.”

Both teams agree on this much, that the series is about to get tighter and perhaps better because both teams bring out so much in the other. In the process, the usual playoff mainstays, such as home court advantage and adjustments and carryover from one game to the next, could be deemed non-issues. Anything goes, anything’s possible.

That said, the Warriors don’t believe the series is in danger of slipping away from them, and if anything feel very much in control because, they say, their imperfections are fixable. The two most glaring ones, Curry’s shooting and defense, are tried and true. How often does Curry go more than a few games with a faulty jumper? And the next time the Warriors’ defense goes a long stretch with constant breakdowns in games of importance will be the first in this era.

Perhaps the biggest factor in the Warriors’ favor is they recognize how fatal these imperfections will be if they continue against a team as stacked as the Rockets. They need Curry’s points to serve as a 1-2 punch with Kevin Durant. They need to be at their defensive finest because Houston is bringing James Harden and Chris Paul and also Eric Gordon on fire off the bench.

See how the series reached Game 3, tied at 1-1.

The Warriors’ confidence is not only natural considering they’ve won two titles in three years, but it’s also necessary in this series, which could ultimately decide the next NBA champion.

“It’s time to lock in for the remainder of the series,” said Green.

As the Warriors spoke Saturday during practice, Curry put in extra work. He has only a pair of three-pointers in two games, or three fewer than PJ Tucker. Even more, the Rockets are aggressively attacking him defensively, forcing him into switches on the pick and roll that place him in the direct path of Harden in numerous cases, a clear Houston advantage.

By forcing him to labor on both ends, the Rockets feel he’ll be one less worry for them, or at least someone who won’t impact the game heavily. So far, he hasn’t. Curry says his knee injury from three months ago is fine, although he’s about to play only his seventh playoff game. If he has no physical limitations as he says, then the Warriors hope it’s just a matter of working off the rust from inactivity.

“He doesn’t need us to create looks for him,” said Green. “He’s going to do that himself, and we know he will.”

It’s all intertwined, the offensive link between Curry, Thompson and Durant. Against all but a handful of teams, the Warriors can easily overcome one of them misfiring or even two. But they’re playing the Rockets, a historical offensive team, and scoring is at a premium if only to keep up. Durant has yet to see any slippage, but Thompson and Curry flopped in Game 2 and the outcome, therefore, was predictable.

“I think we’ll be fine,” said Thompson. “And once Steph gets a couple of open looks and gets going, he can make any shot in the book.”

The bigger worry of the two, the Warriors say, is defense only because the Rockets test those limits. Game 2 showed the damage the Rockets are capable of inflicting if role players take advantage of Harden’s isolation game and hit their shots.

Gordon outscored the Warriors’ starting backcourt by himself in Game 2 and is making over half his shots both beyond and within the three-point stripe. He was joined in Game 2 by Tucker and Trevor Ariza piling up points on the confused and suddenly-overmatched Warriors.