Warriors reach fourth straight NBA finals
HOUSTON: Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors turned all those Houston bricks into a road back to the NBA finals yesterday.
Needing not only all their firepower but also 27 straight misses by the Rockets during an epic cold streak from threepoint range, the Warriors rallied to keep alive their hopes for a repeat.
Kevin Durant scored 34 points, Curry sparked another thirdquarter turnaround, and the Warriors earned a fourth straight trip to the NBA finals by beating the Rockets 10192 in game seven of the Western Conference finals.
The defending champion trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half.
‘‘We know we can make an 11point lead evaporate with two minutes of good basketball,’’ Klay Thompson said.
Curry, who finished with 27 points, scored 14 of Golden State’s 33 points in the third quarter as Houston’s shooting did not just go cold — it froze. The Rockets missed all 14 threepoint attempts in that quarter as part of a 1for21 second half from long range.
The Warriors will host LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in game one of the finals on Friday in the fourth straight matchup between the teams.
James Harden had 32 points as the topseeded Rockets’ bid to return to the finals for the first time since 1995 fell short without Chris Paul, who was nursing a hamstring injury.
‘‘We just didn’t have that extra juice that we needed,’’ Harden said.
The Rockets fell apart in the second half again after doing so in game six.
The Warriors outscored Houston 12263 in the second half of the final two games.
‘‘It’s amazing how long the NBA game is,’’ Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
‘‘Fortyeight minutes, it lasts a long time and there’s so many opportunities to get yourself going as a team. And with our team, there’s just so much firepower, we’re going to get going.’’
The Rockets finished seven of 44 on threepointers, Trevor Ariza missing all nine of his attempts, Eric Gordon going two for 12 and Harden making two of 13. — AP