OAKLAND — Everything seems to point to the Warriors not only beating the Houston Rockets in the NBA Western Conference finals, but based on their 4-0 record against them during the regular season, possibly blowing through them with carefree ease.

It could happen. Most of the experts are saying it should happen. But just as there are trap games, could this be a trap series for the Warriors in their ultimate quest for a championship? Could confidence give way to overconfidence and allow Houston to deal Golden State a fate similar to its southern neighbors, the Los Angeles Clippers?

That, too, could happen if the Warriors don’t bring the same energy and efficiency they did against the New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies in the first two playoff rounds. Strange things can occur when you think you have a team’s number. Just ask the Clippers, who learned the hard way that the Rockets shouldn’t be underestimated, or counted out when you appear to have them down for good.

For the Warriors, simply watching what happened to Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and Co. should snap them to attention, particularly Houston’s Game 6 fourth- quarter comeback with star James Harden on the bench. That development definitely spoke loudly to forward Draymond Green.

“It’s not like they just went and found five guys off the streets and came back,” said Green. “They’ve got quality guys. I knew after watching that, Game 7 would be trouble for the Clippers because they gave everybody not named James Harden confidence. That’s tough to beat. And because of that, those guys are going to be coming in here sky high.”

To be sure, what the Rockets have done lately is almost certainly a lot more applicable to this series than what the Warriors did to them earlier in the season. That’s pretty much ancient history, after all. Their four meetings all occurred before the All-Star break, so when they re-engage Tuesday night at Oracle Arena in Game 1, it will be first time they’ve played each other since Jan. 21 — nearly four months ago.

Much has changed since, at least for Houston. Center Dwight Howard didn’t play in the first two meetings with Golden State, and he probably wasn’t 100 percent in the other two. What the Warriors will see in this series is a far more focused Howard close to top form — in the last three games against the Clippers, he had at least 15 points and 15 rebounds every time out.

“He’s a force,” said coach Steve Kerr. “He’s probably the biggest, strongest guy in the league at that position, and he’s playing at a high level right now. He runs the floor, he blocks shots, he catches lobs, he just does a lot of things.”

Moreover, while the Rockets are missing two starters from those earlier meetings, defensive specialist guard Patrick Beverley (left wrist surgery) and 7-foot big man Donatas Motiejunas (back surgery), they have compensated well with the December acquisitions of veterans Josh Smith and Corey Brewer, the resurgence of 37-year-old guard Jason Terry and the consistent play of forwards Trevor Ariza and Terrence Jones.

The Warriors seem to understand they’re playing a different team under different circumstances and one that has a tremendous amount of momentum. At least verbally, they’re not putting much stock in past results.

“It’s human nature to look back, but we don’t want to look back,” said center Andrew Bogut. “We know we have to be professional with this. The regular-season record doesn’t mean anything in the playoffs, and there has been a laundry list of teams that have swept teams in the regular season and lost in the playoffs to the same team.”

“Any team that can win three straight playoff games should never be overlooked,” said Stephen Curry. “They obviously proved that anything is possible if you really want it and execute better than another team, so there will be no lackadaisical effort or casualness going into this series because we want something special to happen for us and we can hopefully control that by the way we play.”

Curry said the team has watched film of the Rockets not only from their own earlier meetings but also some of their more recent games to get up to speed on how they’ve changed.

“They have certain tendencies that haven’t changed,” he said. “But they’re executing better and defensively I think they’re a little better than they were in the regular season because of the personnel that they have.”

One thing that should change dramatically is the pace and style of play from the Memphis series, and the Warriors will have to make those adjustments in the opener. Unlike the Grizzlies, who made just 25 3-pointers in six games to the Warriors’ 68, the Rockets made 73 shots from beyond the arc even though they shot just 34.6 percent.

“It will be two completely different game plans, two completely different brands of basketball,” said Green. “We’ll probably spend the first half making the adjustments to their style and the different matchups they present. But they’re going to have to adjust to us, too. They haven’t seen us in a while, either.”

Follow Carl Steward on Twitter at twitter.com/stewardsfolly.