The Warriors overcame an injury to Kevin Durant and gutted out a 104-99 win over the Rockets in Game 5 on Wednesday night at Oracle Arena.
The Warriors gutted out a 104-99 victory over the Rockets on Wednesday night at Oracle Arena and now own a 3-2 series lead with Game 6 coming up on Friday night in Houston.
Stephen Curry had 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and Draymond Green and Klay Thompson delivered clutch 3-pointers as the Dubs rallied for the win, bringing them within one victory of reaching the Western Conference Finals for the fifth straight season.
TEAM LEADERS
That the Warriors got the win came courtesy of several twists and turns, including Kevin Durant leaving the game with 2:05 left in the third quarter with a strained right calf, bringing an end to his 22-point night.
Less than a minute after Durant exited the game, the Rockets took their first lead since the opening minutes of the game, and the teams stayed within four points of one another until Green and Thompson's 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, putting the Dubs up by eight with 2:34 left in the game, and the Dubs preserved the lead from there.
After being held scoreless for nearly the first 20 minutes of the game, Curry came up huge after Durant went down with injury. He had the last two Warriors buckets in the third period, each putting the Dubs ahead by one after the Rockets temporarily took the lead. Curry would make more game-tying and go-ahead buckets in the fourth period, including a 3-pointer with 8:44 left in the game, after which the Dubs never trailed.
The Warriors surged ahead in the first quarter behind a 10-0 run that blossomed into a 19-3 spurt to end the quarter. Klay Thompson played a key role in that run, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers from nearly the identical spot in the corner directly across from the Warriors bench. After missing his first shot of the game, Thompson made his next three shots – all two-pointers – before knocking down those back-to-back splashes on the way to a team-high 27-point night in which he shot 5-for-10 on threes.
Assisting each of those Thompson treys was Draymond Green. The do-it-all forward set the tone early with assists on eight of the team’s first 12 baskets and finished the night just two points shy of a triple-double.
Houston rallied in the second quarter, reeling off 10 straight points to come within three, 40-37, midway through the period. But the Warriors had an answer with a Durant 3-pointer, and Stephen Curry added his first of three splashes as part of a 17-0 run for the Dubs that pushed their lead to as many as 20.
Turns out the Dubs needed every bit of that advantage, as Houston did more than make a game of it, out-scoring the Warriors 29-15 in the third quarter. But the Dubs, minus the two-time reigning NBA Finals MVP, came through in the clutch, and now they’ll head to Houston looking to close out the series on Friday in Game 6.
More notables from Game 5:
- Golden State is 15-7 vs. Houston in the postseason dating back to 2015… Including the current series, the Warriors and Rockets have faced each other in four of the last five postseasons.
- The current Warriors/Rockets series is the fourth series in NBA history that each of the first five games were decided by six points-or-fewer (ESPN Stats & Info).
- The Warriors are 7-3 overall this postseason… Golden State has won 23 of its last 26 postseason home games.
- Golden State improved to 16-7 in games following a loss dating back to the 2015 postseason (3-1 record in such games this postseason).
- The Warriors’ record in Game 5 is 10-3 dating back to the 2015 postseason… Golden State is 24-22 all-time in Game 5.
- Golden State tied its postseason-playoff low with 104 points (scored 104 in Game 1 vs. Houston)… The Warriors 15 points scored in the third quarter are the fewest points they have scored in any quarter this postseason.
- After holding Houston to an postseason-opponent low 99 points (previous, 100 points, Game 1 vs. Houston), the Warriors improved to 36-8 dating back to the 2015 postseason when holding their opponent to 99-or-fewer points (22-4 at home, 14-4 on the road).
- Golden State improved to 8-2 all-time in the postseason when Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson each score 20-or-more points in the same game… Curry and Thompson’s 52 combined points are the most scored by the duo in the same contest this postseason.
- With a capacity crowd of 19,596, Golden State recorded its 338th consecutive sellout (regular season and playoffs), the longest streak in franchise history.
- Klay Thompson scored a team-high 27 points (11-of-22 FG, 5-10 3FG), adding four rebounds and three steals in 44 minutes… He passed Rick Barry (105) for fourth place on the Warriors’ all-time postseason steals list (now has 107).
- Stephen Curry tallied 25 points, six rebounds and five assists in 44 minutes of play… He extended his NBA-record streak of 101 postseason game with a made three-point basket.
- Draymond Green posted a team-high 12 rebounds and a game-high 11 assists, recording his career-postseason best fourth straight double-double (fifth double-double in the last six games)... He recorded his fourth-straight outing of double-digit rebounds and fifth of this postseason overall.
- Kevin Durant scored 22 points, with five rebounds and four assists before leaving with a right calf strain at 2:05 in the third quarter… He eclipsed the 300 career postseason threes mark (301 total).
- Andre Iguodala recorded 11 points (5-of-9 FG), his fifth outing of double-digit scoring in the last six games.
- Kevon Looney notched a postseason-career high nine rebounds (previous: eight on May 1, 2018 vs. NOP), adding five points and two assists in 22 minutes.