Warriors beat Rockets with another huge 3rd quarter, advance to finals

Another huge third quarter turnaround later, and the Golden State Warriors are into the NBA Finals, beating the Houston Rockets, 101-92 on Monday. It was a very slow start for Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green, but a huge second half sealed the deal and now they’re off for another finals appearance against the Cavaliers.

Durant had 34 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Green had 13 rebounds and 10 points, while Curry finished with 27 points, including seven threes. James Harden had 32 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists for the Rockets. Clint Capela played 37 minutes and had 20 points.

Green appeared to be getting on Durant’s case early and often for the Warriors, especially in the first half. The only problem there is Green himself wasn’t playing well at that point, and had just 4 points off of 10 shots, including four missed threes that weren’t even close.

It was a poor first half of play for most of the Warriors team, though. Klay Thompson had three personals in the first quarter alone, while Curry shot just 2-of-6 from range in the first two quarters.

Houston, meanwhile, had 14 points from both Capela and Eric Gordon after the first half, plus 16 from Harden. But things took a turn in the third, as they often do. The Rockets missed 27 consecutive three-pointers and had a nightmare third quarter, where they saw yet another lead evaporate going into the final frame.

The Warriors out-scored the Rockets 33-15 in the third quarter alone. The fourth quarter was closer, but the Warriors did enough to always maintain about a 10-point lead, and now they’ll go to another stint in the NBA Finals.

Below, you can see our live blog as it happened.

Gordon fouls to start. Then Capela fouls Durant. Durant goes to the line, and hits both free throws. Bad pass from Ariza, and this one is over!

Harden moves to 28 points with a step-back jumper. Durant loses the ball on a Tucker steal, and Draymond gets a personal. Tucker makes one of two free throws. Curry tries from three from faaaaar out and he doesn’t get it. Thompson gets a steal, and dumps it to Draymond, who makes the layup. Harden hits a layup, and the Warriors have a shot clock violation with 1:24 to go. Harden makes a layup. Curry misses a jumper near the end of the shot clock. Harden misses a three, then Ariza misses one. Warriors timeout!

Gordon drops one in after the timeout, and after a Durant miss, the Rockets get another bucket, also from Gordon. They’re on a 7-0 run here in the fourth! Make that 7-3, because Durant hits a wide-open three. Steal from Draymond, and Thompson puts down a three. Four minutes to go. They’re reviewing the Thompson three to make sure his foot wasn’t on the line. They say it is, so it’s a two, not a three. Livingston foul, and Capela misses the first free throw, but makes the second. Durant hits a long two. They foul Capela again, intentionally. He makes one of two free throws again. Durant sinks a layup, and the Rockets take a timeout.

Gordon misses another three after the timeout for Houston. The Warriors take the next possession and go right to the end of the shot clock before Durant drains a three with Harden in his face. Capela hit a bucket before that, and Curry has a shooting foul. Gordon misses the first free throw, and makes the second. Curry hits a jumper, and Harden has a miss. Thompson gets the rebound, and a Tucker foul for the Rockets. Curry misses a two, and Capela gets the rebound. He gets it to Tucker, who hits a three. Finally! Warriors take a timeout.

Thompson hits a jumper off the Draymond assist to start the fourth. Harden sinks a jumper of his own, and another turnover for the Warriors gives the ball right back. Tucker steps out of bounds though, and the Warriors get it back. Curry makes a short bucket, and Harden responds with one of his own. Harden misses the three after a Draymond foul. Curry misses a three, but Harden has a bad pass that Curry picks off. Thompson sinks a three off the Curry assist. Curry goes out of bounds after a Gordon miss, and Ariza misses another three. He’s 0-for-8 on threes. Yikes. Rockets take a timeout.

After the timeout, Warriors tie it up with a three from Durant. Harden misses a layup, Curry gets the rebound, dumps it to Bell, who dumps it back to Curry after he circles around and another three for the Warriors, who now lead! Durant has a personal and Harden goes to the line. He hits both free throws. Warriors get the ball back, and Curry hits a layup. Missed three from Ariza, and Curry sinks another three. Multiple missed threes by the Rockets, and it goes back to the Warriors, where Curry sinks ANOTHER three. Curry picks up his third personal, and Tucker breaks the scoring drought for the Rockets. Durant is fouled, and goes to the line, where he makes both free throws. Gordon hits a two, and a dunk after Durant hits another bucket. End of the quarter!

Missed layup from Gordon, missed three from Golden State’s Green, missed three from Ariza, and a Young foul sends Tucker to the line. He hits one of two free throws. Green throws a good block on Harden, who declines being helped up by him! Getting chippy! Draymond hits a layup, and Capela hits a layup. Curry makes a three, and Durant gets a big block on Ariza. Curry has a turnover, a Tucker steal, and we get another timeout.

Harden misses a three to start the second half. Thompson misses a jumper, and Harden makes a layup. Looney gets a layup for Golden State, and Curry misses a three after getting a steal. Ariza misses a three, Capela picks up his second personal. Durant misses a three, then Gordon misses one. Green tips in a layup after grabbing his own rebound. Thompson gets his fourth personal. Thompson miss, Looney miss and then a Durant three off the Curry rebound. Looney gets a breakaway, and is fouled by Harden. Looney misses both free throw attempts, so it was a good foul. Tucker and Gordon both miss threes, and Curry picks up another rebound. He gives it to Durant, who dishes to Young, who drills a three. Ariza misses a three for the Rockets, who take a timeout.

Another turnover by the Warriors, but Gordon misses the three. Curry hits a three, and has just six points with the first half nearing its end. Harden misses a three, and the Warriors get the rebound, but Ariza steals it. Harden misses a three, Curry gets the rebound, and dumps it to Thompson, who sinks a three. Harden with a beautiful behind the back dish to Capela, who dunks it again. Durant hits a jumper. Gordon dumps it to Capela, who hits a layup. Missed three by Thompson, and then one from Harden. Curry gets the rebound, and takes it all the way for a layup. Harden and Curry both miss threes. Durant misses a three. Gordon makes a layup right at the buzzer and we go to halftime with an 11-point HHouston lead.

Curry gets a block on a Harden three, and Gordon misses the follow-up three. Capela finally hits a layup, and Tucker has as hooting foul. Thompson goes to the line, and he misses both free throws. Harden with a steal and a dunk, and the Warriors take a timeout this time.

Bad pass from Green results in a Harden steal, and then Thompson gets the steal from Harden, but Curry misses the jumper. Warriors get the rebound, and Curry misses from three. Capela gets yet another dunk for Houston, and Thompson sinks a three for the Warriors. Houston’s Green makes a three of his own, and Livingston hits a jumper. Gordon hits a three, and Green makes a layup. The Warriors trail by 14! Capela hits a layup, and Durant makes a three off the Curry assist. Houston timeout.

Gordon misses a jumper right off the bat, and Thompson hits a layup after the Livingston rebound. Tucker makes a hook shot for Houston. Durant misses a jumper, and Gordon hits a layup. Green misses a lazy three for Golden State, and Gordon hits a layup. The Warriors need to wake up sooner rather than later. Thompson hits a layup. We get a few misses for Houston, and Tucker gets a dunk. Thompson misses a three, and Capela gets a dunk. Sloppy, sloppy play by the Warriors. They take at imeout.

Harden makes the other free throw. Looney dunks it off the Curry assist. Ariza misses a jumper, Capela misses the tip, and then Ariza misses the tip. Warriors get the ball. Curry has been making some nice moves, but he’s not taking the shots he usually takes. Bad pass from Curry, and Gordon misses the follow-up three for the Rockets. Green misses a three for Golden State as the first quarter comes to an end.

Livingston gets the steal off Ariza right off the bat, and Green hits a layup for Golden State. Harden hits a reverse layup, and Green misses a three for the Warriors. Harden gets the ball and gets to 12 points on the game. Anderson fouls, and Durant goes to the line. He hits one of the two free throws. Harden misses a layup, and there’s a brief stoppage when the shot clock was accidentally reset. Harden blocks a Bell jumper, and Bell gets a shooting foul on top of it. Harden makes one of two free throws, and the Warriors take a timeout.

Durant misses both of his free throws once play resumes. Capela goes to the line after a Cook foul, and also misses both of his free throws. Ariza misses from three, Houston’s Green misses a three, then misses a jumper, and Durant gets the rebound. He misses a three of his own. Golden State’s Green misses one, too. Add to more missed threes for the Rockets. Finally, Livingston breaks the scoring drought for the Warriors, hitting a jumper off the Durant assist. Tucker hits a quick three for the Rockets., and Durant responds with one for the Warriors. Houston timeout!

And we’re off! The Warriors get possession first, and Curry misses a three. Looney and Thompson both foul, and Harden hits both free throws for the first points of the game. Warriors commit a turnover on a bad pass, and Thompson gets his second personal, sending Gordon to the line. He hits both of his free throws. Another Green turnover,and then a Tucker turnover.

Ariza fouls, and Durant goes to the line. He hits both free throws. Capela is called for traveling. Thompson gets on the board with a reverse layup off the Curry assist. Durant misses a three after Harden misses a jumper. Harden gets the ball back and drills a three for another Rockets lead. Durant hits a quick bucket, and Curry steals from Tucker, and drains a three for a Warriors lead. Harden has an offensive foul, but another Warriors turnover leads to a Harden three, and another Thompson foul. Harden misses the free throw. Curry misses a jumper, and Gordon drops in a three for Houston. It’s an 8-0 run for the Rockets after a Capela dunk. Houston timeout. Thompson has three fouls already!

The Houston Rockets set a franchise record with 65 wins this season and finished with the best record in the NBA. That earned them home court advantage throughout the playoffs, which looms large heading into Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors on Monday night at Toyota Center.

Each team has won a road game in this series, so nothing is guaranteed. But Houston has to like their chances of reaching their first NBA Finals since 1995. The Rockets are 7-2 at home this postseason.

At issue for both teams is a starter out with injury. Chris Paul missed Game 6 with a hamstring strain for Houston and Warriors forward Andre Iguodala has missed the last three games with a bone bruise in his leg. Their Game 7 availability remains to be seen.

On Paul, per the Associated Press:

“I think he’ll play as soon as he can,” D’Antoni said before the game Saturday. “It’s just not a question of trying to outsmart. He’s going to play. As soon as he’s able to walk and run, he’ll do it. There was no shot at it today.”

On Iguodala:

“It’s a bone bruise, and those are hard to predict,” Kerr said. “Until he’s able to really run without pain, then he can’t play.”

This is the first season the NBA has featured Game 7 in each conference final series since 1979, when the Bullets and Spurs went the distance in the east and the Sonics and Suns fought out west.

Location: Toyota Center, Houston

Game time: 9 p.m. ET

TV: TNT

Announcers: Marv Albert, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, David Aldridge, Kristen Ledlow

Online streaming: Watch TNT