Fred VanVleet scored 26 factors, Amen Thompson added 25 and the Houston Rockets prevented elimination with a 131-116 rout of the Golden State Warriors in Sport 5 of a first-round playoff sequence Wednesday evening.
Sport 6 is Friday in San Francisco.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr threw within the towel early on this one with the sport out of hand. A layup by VanVleet halfway by the third quarter made it 93-64, and Kerr known as timeout and cleared his bench.
Houston coach Ime Udoka adopted swimsuit with a couple of minute to go within the third and his workforce up 105-76. He put all his starters again in with about eight minutes left after Golden State minimize the result in 109-92.
Dillon Brooks added 24 factors on an evening when all 5 Houston scored in double figures.
A 9-5 run by the Warriors bought them inside 114-101 earlier than a fracas broke out with about 4 minutes to go. Pat Spencer pushed Brooks after which was ejected after headbutting Alperen Sengun within the ensuing scuffle.
Houston went on a 7-2 run after that to place the sport away.
The Rockets put collectively their finest recreation this postseason to increase the sequence after dropping each video games in California, together with Sport 3, which Jimmy Butler sat out with an damage.
They raced to a 14-point lead after one quarter and by the point Stephen Curry made his first basket on a 3-pointer halfway by the second, they led 55-32.
They’d a 27-point lead at halftime behind 19 factors from VanVleet.
Butler managed simply eight factors in 25 minutes on 2-of-10 taking pictures after combining for 52 factors within the two full video games he’d performed on this sequence.
Curry was 4-of-12 for 13 factors after scoring greater than 30 factors in two of the primary 4 video games to maneuver the Warriors inside a recreation of clinching the sequence.
The Warriors made 15-of-44 3-pointers and shot 41.7% total. The Rockets made 13-of-30 3s and shot 55.1%.
By extending the sequence, the Rockets have an opportunity to develop into the 14th workforce in NBA historical past to beat a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven sequence. Houston has achieved it twice, most just lately within the 2015 Western Convention semifinals in opposition to the Clippers.
The Warriors have been on the mistaken finish of such a comeback, dropping the 2016 NBA Finals to LeBron James and Cleveland after having a 3-1 benefit.
Golden State has dominated the Rockets within the playoffs, eliminating them 4 occasions between 2015 and 2019.
Reporting by The Related Press.
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