Rockets closer to NBA Finals
Los Angeles, May 25: The Houston Rockets clawed out a 98- 94 victory over the reigning champion Golden State Warriors on Thursday to move within one win of reaching the NBA Finals.
The Rockets, who led the league with 65 regular- season wins, took a 3- 2 lead in the best- of- seven Western Conference finals and with one more victory can deny the Warriors a fourth straight trip to the championship series.
“For us nothing changes. We just take it game by game, position by position, try to compete our butts off and give ourselves the best chance,” Rockets star James Harden said of Houston’s mindset on the brink of the club’s first trip to the Finals since winning back- to- back titles in 1994 and 1995.
Golden State, whose streak of 16 straight home playoff wins was halted by the Rockets on Tuesday, will try to fend off elimination when they host game six on Saturday. The winner of the series will face either the Cleveland Cavaliers or Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals starting on May 31.
The Cavaliers, who have played the Warriors in each of the last three title series, trail the Celtics 2- 3 in the Eastern Conference finals.
Houston point guard Chris Paul scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half as the Western Conference heavyweights went toe- totoe.
In a game that saw 16 lead changes, the Warriors led by one going into the fourth quarter.
But Eric Gordon scored 10 of his 24 points off the bench for Houston in the final frame to help the Rockets turn the tide.
Gordon drained a threepointer to put Houston up by four points with 1: 21 remaining, and he came up with the ball after Draymond Green lost it on Golden State’s last possession. — AFP