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NBA Playoffs | Warriors vs Rockets in game four of Western Conference Finals

THE Golden State Warriors offensive juggernaut came to a shuddering halt late in game four as the NBA playoffs exploded.

Jai BednallJai Bednall
@jaibednall
4 min read
May 23, 2018 - 2:08PM

Live: NBA playoffs

Houston responded to a historic game three defeat to square the Western Conference Finals in Oakland.

FINALLY a close-finishing Conference Finals game.

Houston proved its crunchtime chops to steal a 95-92 game four thriller and square its series with Golden State at 2-2.

The Rockets will return to Houston for game five knowing they can secure an NBA Finals appearance with two home wins.

James Harden (30 points) and Chris Paul (27 points) were enormous for the visitors as they fought back from a 10-point deficit with a quarter to play to eke out an unlikely win.

Harden struggled after a 24-point first half but the Rockets led 94-89 after an Eric Gordon triple with 2:27 to play.

The only scores from that point came from the foul line as Kevin Durant passed up an opportunity to take the game-tying shot with the Warriors down 94-92 with just seconds remaining.

Durant passed the ball to Klay Thompson, who was unable to get an effective shot off. “That’s not the reason why we lost the game,” Durant said. “But I definitely wish I had that last play back.”

Paul rebounded Thompson’s miss just before the final buzzer sounded for the first time and pounded the ball down in delight. A replay review ensued and it was determined Shaun Livingston fouled Paul before the game ended, so Paul made a free throw with 0.5 seconds left.

Curry couldn’t get off a final attempt before the buzzer.

The Warriors scored just 12 points in the fourth quarter as their offence fell apart. “I thought this was the highest level we’ve ever played defensively,” Houston coach Mike D’Antoni said.

It snapped a run of 16 consecutive home playoff wins for Golden State.

Steph Curry scored 28 points and Kevin Durant added 27 points and 12 rebounds but the defending champions — who lost Andre Iguodala to a knee injury before the game — missed their final six shots from the floor. “We just ran out of gas,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

It was a tale of two halves for James Harden.
It was a tale of two halves for James Harden.

After seven one-sided contests across the East and West, an eighth appeared on the cards as Houston missed its first eight shots of game four against Golden State to trail 12-0.

But the Rockets responded in outstanding fashion in a 34-18 second quarter to take a seven-point halftime lead.

Harden was exceptional as he enjoyed arguably the greatest half of basketball of his career. The MVP favourite had 24 points, three assists and two offensive rebounds and also made a huge defensive contribution with three steals and two blocks. Oh, and he dunked all over Draymond Green.

But just like he did in game three, Curry took over in the third quarter. After 18 points in the third quarter of game three, Curry pumped in 17 in game four to turn a 53-46 deficit into a 80-70 lead.

But the Rockets responded again as we finally saw some meaningful fourth quarter minutes, minutes that didn’t go so well for Golden State.

12.50pm

Curry starts cooking

Steph Curry repeated his third quarter heroics of game three, hitting four three-pointers to help the Warriors snatch the lead back.

After exploding with an 18-point third quarter two days ago, Curry scored 11 consecutive points to make it 68-65.

Curry (25 points), Kevin Durant (21 points, 11 rebounds) and Draymond Green (10 points, eight assists, 11 rebounds) all starred as the defending champs regained control.

11.45am

Harden’s highlight reel hammer

There’s poster-worthy dunks — and then there’s what James Harden did to Draymond Green in the second quarter of game four.

The Rockets superstar savagely slammed the ball in the face of one of the league’s best defenders to have NBA fans losing their minds.

The dunk was part of 11 consecutive points from Harden which took his tally to 22. He followed that by stripping Kevin Durant at mid-court and running in an uncontested lay-up as Houston took a 53-46 halftime lead.

After a scoreless first quarter, Chris Paul scored 14 points in the second. Kevin Durant leads the Warriors with 15 points but needed 14 shots to get there as the hosts shot under 40 per cent from the field and made just 3/12 threes.

11.30am

Warriors attempt early knockout

Zaza Pachulia makes Anthony Joshua look tiny. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Zaza Pachulia makes Anthony Joshua look tiny. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

With heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua watching on, the Golden State Warriors went for a quick kill against the Rockets in game four.

Houston missed its first eight field goal attempts to fall behind 12-0 early in game four.

All five Warriors scored before any Rockets players hit a bucket.

James Harden ended the drought, hitting 4/6 shots for nine points to help his team gain a foothold in the game.

But with Kevin Durant (4/10 for 10 points) firing at will, the Warriors took a 28-19 lead into the first break.

10am

Warriors down to ‘four All-Stars’

The Warriors will be without veteran forward Andre Iguodala after he was ruled out with a leg injury.

It leaves coach Steve Kerr without a key defender to use against Rockets star James Harden and a playmaker on offence.

Kerr will be forced to make another adjustment after the move to put Iguodala in the starting line-up provided a spark in the second round against New Orleans. “If he was close, he would play,” Kerr said.

Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni offered no sympathy. “Now they only have four All-Stars instead of five,” D’Antoni said. “So it really puts a cramp on their style.”

Andre Iguodala has been a key to limiting James Harden.
Andre Iguodala has been a key to limiting James Harden.

Originally published as NBA Playoffs | Warriors vs Rockets in game four of Western Conference Finals

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Original URL: https://www.thechronicle.com.au/sport/basketball/nba/live-nba-playoffs-warriors-vs-rockets-in-game-four-of-western-conference-finals/news-story/17fa3d8f245149664d823c2365469394