By Diamond Leung / San Jose Mercury News
OAKLAND, California—They became Western Conference champions after defeating the Houston Rockets, 104-90, on Wednesday to win the series in five games.
The Golden State Warriors, who will face LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals, punched their ticket after Stephen Curry scored 26 points and Harrison Barnes poured it on in the fourth quarter to finish with 24 points.
Klay Thompson added 20 points before leaving the game with an ear laceration but was all smiles afterward along with his fellow Splash Brother.
“We’re four wins away from the goal,” Curry told the crowd at Oracle Arena, which cheered so loudly that his words could hardly be heard.
The Warriors, who went to the postseason in only three of the previous 20 seasons before hiring rookie coach Steve Kerr, will host Game One of the NBA Finals on June 4.
Rockets guard James Harden, the Most Valuable Player runner-up to Curry, was held to 14 points on two-for-11 shooting and suffered the indignity of committing an NBA playoff-record 13 turnovers. Dwight Howard led the Rockets with 18 points and 16 rebounds, but they shot only 35.1 percent from the field.
Barnes scored nine straight Warriors points on a jumper, three-pointer, runner and dunk to give his team an 87-72 lead with 7:10 left.
The outburst came immediately after the Warriors saw Thompson leave for the locker room after suffering the laceration when he was kneed in the head by the Rockets’ Trevor Ariza.
When the Rockets cut the Warriors’ lead to eight points with 4:19 left, Barnes hit two free throws and ran the floor for another dunk.
The Warriors led 74-65 after a 7-0 run capped off by Curry’s three-pointer and a dunk from Andre Iguodala, who had stolen the ball for Harden’s 11th turnover that tied the NBA playoff record. The assist came from Draymond Green, who started the game One-for-10 from the field but contributed on the defensive end.
Jason Terry scored seven straight Rockets points before the Warriors’ run.
Thompson scored the first five points of the second half to push the Warriors’ lead to 57-46. But he would soon be forced to the bench after committing his fourth and fifth fouls only 22 seconds apart. The Rockets responded with an 8-0 run capped by Ariza’s steal in the backcourt and three-point play.
The Warriors led 52-46 at halftime, with Barnes and Curry hitting back-to-back three-pointers to push their first-half lead to as many as eight points.
Harden was held to 11 points while committing eight turnovers in the half.
Thompson caught fire in the second quarter, hitting three three-pointers in a row to spark a 13-2 run that gave the Warriors a 30-24 lead. He hit his sixth shot in a row with a dunk in transition off a missed Harden three-point attempt and Curry’s rebound and quick pass.
The Rockets led 22-17 after the first quarter as the Warriors got off to another slow start, committing six turnovers and going one-for-eight from three-point range.
Howard in the quarter collected eight points, five rebounds and two blocked shots. Andrew Bogut also committed two of his fouls and had to take a seat on the bench.
The Warriors started the game one-for-nine from the field as the Rockets jumped out to an 8-2 lead.
Bouncing back, the Warriors took back the lead after Curry stole the ball from Harden and Thompson made a reverse lay-up in transition to give them a 10-9 lead.
Harden hit all seven of his free throws in the quarter, stretching out the Rockets’ lead to 20-12.
Image credits: AP