The Houston Rockets were the best team in the NBA in the regular season.
They played like it Wednesday night
George Iloka Jersey , using a balanced scoring attack to rout the Golden State Warriors 127-105 and even the Western Conference finals at one game
apiece.
James Harden and Eric Gordon each scored 27 points on a night Houston had five players score 16 points or more.
”We can beat anybody, anywhere at any time playing the way we play,” coach Mike D’Antoni said.
The Rockets didn’t trail after the first quarter and led by double digits for most of the night. They head to Oakland, California for Game 3 on Sunday night
feeling much better after rebounding from a deflating 119-106 loss in the series
opener.
P.J. Tucker added a playoff career-high 22 and Trevor Ariza had 19 as both bounced back after struggling in Game 1. Tucker had just one point in that game
and Ariza scored eight, but was limited on defense after collecting his fifth
foul early in the third quarter.
”I never worry about my offense … it’s all on defense,” Tucker said. ”If we get stops we’ll be able to run. It changes the game and it changes the way we
play and we know that.”
Kevin Durant had 38 points after scoring 37 in the opener, but Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combined for just 24 points after the pair went for 46 in Game
1.
Houston wasn’t able to slow down Durant, but did a much better job of limiting open 3-pointers by Thompson and Curry, and the two made just 3 of 12
attempts.
”They were desperate tonight and played like it, and we weren’t and it showed,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said.
The Warriors made three free throws to get within 11 early in the fourth quarter before the Rockets scored the next 11 points, with 3s from
Gordon
Jim Kelly Jersey , Tucker and Harden to make it 111-89 with about 6 1/2 minutes to play.
Durant made a basket after that, but Houston scored the next eight points to extend the lead to 119-91 with about five minutes left.
The Warriors got frustrated in that stretch, with Durant getting a technical for shoving Harden in the back and Draymond Green pushing Ariza out of bounds
seconds later. It was then that Kerr sent all of his starters to the bench for
good.
Gordon came off the bench to make six 3-pointers, Tucker tied a playoff best with five and Harden added three.
”They were more settled tonight and they hit timely shots,” Durant said. ”The first quarter was still the most important part of the game. Eric Gordon hit two
big 3s and that kind of settled them in. Those shots did it for them.”
Houston avoided losing consecutive games for the first time this postseason and the Warriors lost in the second game of a playoff series for the first time
since the 2015 NBA Finals, snapping a 10-game winning streak in such games.
”We got outplayed the whole game … we got it handed to us,” Kerr said. ”You can look at it any way you want … and parcel it out, but it didn’t matter who we
had out there tonight we got beat.”
Houston led by as many as 19 in the first half and was up 64-50 at halftime. The Warriors cut it to 74-64 with five quick points from Durant, but the Rockets
opened it back up to 89-72 when Gordon made an off-balance layup before crashing
to the court while being fouled and made the free throw.
The Rockets were up by 16 to start the fourth quarter but Golden State got within 98-86 with about 10 minutes left. Curry had five points in that span,
including his first 3 after missing his first six attempts of the night.
Curry finished with 16 points and Thompson was 3 for 11 for his eight points.
TIP-INS
Warriors: It was Durant’s 19th straight playoff game with at least 20 points. … Curry made one 3-pointer to extend his NBA playoff record of 81 straight
playoff games with at least one 3-pointer. … Durant and Curry were Golden
State’s only players with more than 10 points.
Rockets: Houston improved to 8-0 this postseason when leading after three quarters. … Houston made 16 of 42 3-point attempts. … Paul finished with 16
points.
A LITTLE SHORT
Grammy Award-winning rapper Lil’ Wayne took the Rockets’ first shot for charity before the game. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the 5-foot-5
Wayne’s shot was a little short. The New Orleans native
Jerrell Freeman Jersey , who has attended several playoff games in Houston this postseason, still received a loud ovation from the crowd.
THEY SAID IT
Curry on Durant: ”He’s been amazing. He’s making plays. He’s just aggressive and I think we all need to feed off that, the focus and determination.”
UP NEXT
After Game 3, the teams will play Game 4 on Tuesday night in Oakland before returning to Houston for Game 5 on Thursday.
—
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors can achieve a piece of history Tuesday when they look to close out the New Orleans Pelicans in Game 5 of the
Western Conference semifinals.
The Warriors bounced back from a 119-100 thumping at New Orleans in Game 3 with an equally convincing 118-92 romp in Game 4, taking a commanding 3-1 lead
in the best-of-seven series.
Golden State can advance to its fourth straight Western Conference finals with a Game 5 win at home, where it has won 14 consecutive playoff games, one
shy of the NBA record.
The Chicago Bulls set the standard of 15 straight home wins from April 1990 to May 1991.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr went with a new starting lineup in Game 4, inserting Andre Iguodala alongside All-Stars Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin
Durant and Draymond Green for the first time in Durant’s two seasons with Golden
State.
The result was a 17-4 game-opening burst that created a lead the Warriors never came close to relinquishing.
“You’re on the road and threatened, you put your five best guys out there Alex Erickson Jersey ,” Kerr explained. “To start like that sets a great tone.”
The Warriors dominated the game both offensively and defensively, the latter having been a key to their run to two championships in the last three
seasons.
Golden State has won its last nine playoff games — four this season, five last year — when holding the opponent below 100 points, a streak that dates to
Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals when Cleveland prevailed 93-89 to claim the
title.
The Warriors, who have held the home-court advantage in every playoff series in which they’ve participated since Kerr took over as coach for the 2014-15
season, have won Game 5 (always at home) eight of the last nine times a series
has reached a fifth game.
Again, the only loss was in the 2016 Finals when the Cavaliers rallied from a 3-1 deficit to stun the defending champs.
The Pelicans, meanwhile, have a bit of positive history to call upon in their quest to stay alive and perhaps advance past the second round for the first time
ever.
Known then at the Hornets and down 3-1 in the best-of-seven, New Orleans won 93-91 at Philadelphia in the Eastern semifinals in 2002 — the first year of the
New Orleans franchise — to force a Game 6, which they lost at home to the 76ers
107-103.
With their bench having been outscored 134-95 in the four games, the Pelicans have burned their starters big minutes Daryl Johnston Jersey , with Anthony Davis (39.3) and Jrue Holiday (38.2) leading the series in minutes played.
New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry had that in mind when he called off a scheduled workout on Monday in Oakland.
“We do have guys that are playing heavy minutes,” he explained. “Really, all the starters are playing real heavy minutes. I thought it would be a good idea
today to let their minds rest, their bodies rest.”
The Pelicans have played their best in the series when rested.
The clubs got two days off in Oakland after Golden State’s 123-101 victory in Game 1. The Pelicans rebounded with a strong effort in Game 2, falling just
121-116 on the road.
Then after two more days off, New Orleans was re-energized at home and responded with its 119-100 triumph.
The teams were then rushed back from a Friday night to a Sunday afternoon for Game 4, during which the Pelicans shot just 4 of 26 on 3-pointers after having
scorched the nets for 14 of 31 in the Game 3 win.
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