San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
A golden rally forces Game 7
OAKLAND, Calif. — More than seven months and 98 games later, the Rockets’ quest to surpass and succeed the champion Warriors comes down to one more game.
The collision course that had been viewed by many to be no more than the Rockets’ quixotic obsession brought them to a Game 7 Monday at Toyota Center, their short-handed bid to eliminate the Warriors in a stunning upset coming up a half short.
The Warriors blasted the Rockets in the second half when the threes poured in, the Rockets’ bogged down and the absence of Chris Paul became most conspicuous as the Warriors rollled 115-86.
By the time the benches cleared with 4 ½ minutes left, the Rockets had gone from a 17-point first half lead when they made 48.8 percent of their shots and 50 percent of their threes to a 25-point deficit in the second half when they made just 8 of 30 shots, 3 of 14 threes.
The Warriors lit up the second half, with Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry combing for 37 points on 11 of 15 3-point shooting. Thompson finished with a game-high 35 points.
That pushed fate of the Rockets’ pursuit of their first championship since the Clutch City Rockets’ titles of 1994 and 1995 to their first Game 7 since the 2015 second-round win against the Los Angeles Clippers.
James Harden finished with a team-high 32 points for the Rockets, including 22 in the first half. Eric Gordon, starting in place of Paul, scored 16 first-half points, but scored only three in the second half.