Game Five of the Western Conference Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets will take place on Thursday night from the Toyota Center. The defending NBA Champion Warriors have already won on Houston’s home floor, but were unable to take a commanding 3-1 lead in this series. In Game Four, Golden State managed just 12 points during the fourth quarter of a tightly contested 95-92 series evening loss. The Warriors were the top assist team in the league during the regular season, but assisted on just 14 of their 35 made field goals on the evening.
Steph Curry finished with a team high 28 points on an inefficient 10-for-26 shooting performance. All-Star F Kevin Durant added 27 points (9-for-24 FG) and 12 rebounds in a losing effort for the Warriors.
The Houston Rockets have faced two separate deficits in this best-of-seven series and have responded each time. The top-seeded Rockets are now in position to advance to the NBA Finals with two of the final three games of this series at home. On Tuesday, Houston fell behind 12-0 to start the game and managed to weather multiple storms. The Rockets outscored the Warriors by 13 points in the final quarter and connected on 12-for-38 from long range.
James Harden led all scorers with 30 points on an 11-for-26 shooting effort. Chris Paul contributed 27 points and four assists for the Rockets, P.J. Tucker did not make a shot, but grabbed a game high 16 rebounds.
