LEBRON READY FOR ANOTHER FINAL:
G.S. stuns Rockets to meet rival LeBron in Finals for 4th straight year
HOUSTON — Stephen Curry and Golden State turned all those Houston bricks into a road back to the NBA Finals and meeting with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers for the fourth straight season.
Needing not only all their firepower but also 27 straight misses by the Rockets during an epic cold streak from 3-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 the NBA Finals by beating the Rockets 10192 in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals on Monday night.
The defending champions trailed by as many as 15 in the first half after falling behind 17 in Game 6.
“We know we can make an 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 3-point attempts in that quarter as part of a 1-for-21 second half from long range. The Warriors will host LeBron James and the Cavs in Game 1 on Thursday night. The Warriors won two of the previous three finals meetings with Cleveland, including winning last year’s championship.
James Harden had 32 points as the top-seeded 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. “Forty-eight 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 3-pointers, with Trevor Ariza missing all nine of his attempts, Eric Gordon going 2 for 12 and Harden making just 2 of 13.
Golden State led by seven entering the fourth and pushed the lead to 10 on a 3-pointer by Thompson with about 9½ minutes left. Clint Capela made a hook shot for Houston but Durant hit a long 3 seconds later to make it 86-75.
The Rockets were behind by 13 after a 3 by Curry and had missed 27 straight 3-pointers when P.J. Tucker hit one from the corner to cut the lead to 89-79 midway through the quarter.
It was their first 3-pointer since one by Gordon with about 6½ minutes left in the second quarter that put the Rockets up 42-28 during a woeful Warriors start.
“We were lucky to escape out of here,” Kerr said.
Tucker’s 3 was the first of seven straight points for Houston which cut the lead to 89-83.
But Durant scored six points in a 9-2 spurt after that which left the Warriors 97-85 with about three minutes to go.
Houston finally found a little offense after that, using a 7-2 run to cut it to 99-92, but their rally bid came up short.
Thompson added 19 for Golden State after scoring 35 in the Game 6 win and the Warriors got a fourth straight start from Kevon Looney with Andre Iguodala sitting out again with a bone bruise on his left leg.
After being down by 10 at halftime of Game 6, the Warriors trailed by 11 entering the third quarter on Monday night. Golden State opened the third quarter with a 10-4 run to cut the lead to 58-53 after a 3-pointer by Nick Young with about eight minutes left in the quarter.
Tucker made one of two free throws and the teams exchanged layups before Golden State scored nine straight points, with two 3s from Curry, to take a 64-61 lead.