Warriors 115 - 80 Rockets
Final
  for this game

Warriors head to Houston with 2-0 lead

May 23, 2015 - 1:17 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Golden State Warriors will try for a commanding lead over the Houston Rockets Saturday night when Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals heads to the Toyota Center.

The Warriors defended their home court at Oracle Arena, including an intense, 99-98 victory Thursday.

Golden State saw an eight-point lead trimmed to one following a James Harden to Dwight Howard alley-oop with 33.0 seconds left. After Harrison Barnes missed a reverse layup at the other end, the Rockets raced the ball up the court rather than draw up a final play.

Harden was double-teamed by Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson with time winding down and curiously passed to Howard on the perimeter. Howard hot-potatoed the ball right back, Curry poked the ball between Harden's legs, and the clock struck zero before anyone gained control.

"I will take our best player heading downhill on a broken court any day of the week. That's where he feasts," Rockets head coach McHale said, describing the last play.

Curry scored 33 points to follow up his 34-point showing in the series opener, and Andrew Bogut stepped up with 14 points, eight rebounds and five blocks. Curry and Harden were both named to the All-NBA First Team on Thursday, while Thompson, who scored 13 points on 15 shots was named to the Third Team. Golden State's Draymond Green filled the box score with 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

The final sequence spoiled an otherwise sublime game from Harden, who finished with 38 points on 13-of-21 shooting and added 10 rebounds and nine assists.

"It was frustrating to give the game away like that," a disappointed Harden said. "It was a tough (final) play."

Dwight Howard played 40-plus minutes despite battling a left knee injury and totaled 19 points and 17 boards in a losing effort. Josh Smith scored 10 points and 17 shots for the Rockets.

The Warriors never trailed in the fourth quarter and appeared to pull away when Curry took over with under three minutes remaining. After stealing a lazy Trevor Ariza pass, Curry hit a step-back jumper with a hand in his face, then drove left and threw a baseline bounce pass to a driving Bogut, who withstood a Howard shove and snuck in a runner for a 96-89 lead.

It was still an eight-point game before Harden made two free throws, went in for an uncontested dunk and made two more from the stripe to pull the Rockets within 99-96 with under a minute to play.

Corey Brewer forced an 8-second violation in the backcourt, and Howard's slam preceded the dramatic finish.

"It's great competition," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "It's two teams that really want to win and get to the Finals."

The Warriors won two straight and three of their last four in Houston.

Game 4 will be Monday night.






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