IT’SWARRIORSVS. CAVS
Golden State blows by Rockets, will face Cleveland for fourth straight year
HOUSTON— Stephen Curry and Golden State turned all those Houston bricks into a road back to the NBA Finals.
Needing not only all their firepower but also 27 straight misses by the Rockets during an epic cold streak from three- point range, the Warriors rallied to keep alive their hopes for a repeat.
Kevin Durant scored 34 points, Curry sparked another third- quarter turnaround, and the Warriors earned a fourth straight trip to theNBAFinals by beating the Rockets 101- 92 in Game 7 of theWestern Conference finals onMonday night.
The defending champions trailed by as many as 15 in the first half after falling behind 17 in Game 6.
“Weknowwecanmakean 11- point 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 didn’t just go cold, it froze. The Rockets missed all 14 three- point attempts in that quarter as part of a 1- for- 21 second half from long range.
TheWarriors will host LeBron James and the Cavaliers in Game 1 on Thursday night 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 6. The Warriors outscored Houston 122- 63 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 7 of 44 on three- pointers, with Trevor Ariza missing all nine of his attempts, Eric Gordon going 2- for- 12 and Harden making just 2- of- 13.
The Warriors led by seven entering the fourth and pushed the lead to 10 on a threepointer by Thompson with about 9 ½ minutes left. Clint Capela made a hook shot for Houston but Durant hit a long three seconds later to make it 86- 75.