Rockets rout Warriors to even West finals
Harden, Gordon lead Houston attack
HOUSTON — James Harden and Eric Gordon each scored 27 points to lead a balanced attack as the Houston Rockets routed the Golden State Warriors 127105 on Wednesday night to even the Western Conference finals at one game apiece.
The Rockets didn’t trail after the first quarter and led by double digits for most of the night. They head to Oakland, Calif., for Game 3 on Sunday night feeling much better after rebounding from a deflating 119-106 loss in the series opener.
“We can beat anybody, anywhere at any time playing the way we play,” coach Mike D’Antoni said.
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.
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 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,
Tucker and Harden to make it 111-89 with about 6½ 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 5 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.
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.
BUCKS: The Associated Press has learned that the Milwaukee Bucks have reached an agreement with Mike Budenholzer to become the team’s next coach.
The 2015 NBA Coach of the Year will replace Joe Prunty, the former assistant who went 21-16 in the regular season after replacing the fired Jason Kidd in late January.
AWARDS: Houston’s James Harden, Cleveland’s LeBron James and Anthony Davis of New Orleans are the finalists for the NBA’s MVP award.
Harden, who led the league in scoring, has twice been a runner-up for the award, including last year when Russell Westbrook won. James has won the MVP award four times.
The three finalists for the individual awards were announced Wednesday. The winners will be announced on June 25 in Santa Monica, Calif., during the NBA Awards show.
Davis was also a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year, along with Utah’s Rudy Gobert and Philadelphia center Joel Embiid. The other finalists are ... Rookie of the Year: Donovan Mitchell, Utah; Ben Simmons, Philadelphia; Jayson Tatum, Boston
Coach of the Year: Dwane Casey, Toronto; Quin Snyder, Utah; Brad Stevens, Boston
Sixth man: Eric Gordon, Houston; Fred VanVleet, Toronto; Lou Williams, LA Clippers
Most Improved Player: Clint Capela, Houston; Spencer Dinwiddie, Brooklyn; Victor Oladipo, Indiana