WARRIORS ARE IN THE FINALS!
Oracle Arena was in full tilt tonight with the Houston Rockets in town, as the Golden State Warriors were looking to close out the series in front of the home crowd.
And that they did. On a game where James Harden committed an NBA playoff high 12 turnovers throughout the course of the game, the Rockets did not have enough firepower to contain the Splash Brothers and the rest of the Warriors. Harden ended the game with a series low 14 points, while Dwight Howard led all Rockets scorers with only 18 points.
One of the big momentum changers of the game came when Trevor Ariza kneed Klay Thompson in the side of the head. Thompson fell to the floor and ended up heading into the locker room to get checked out, ultimate suffering an ear laceration. While he was gone, Harrison Barnes took it to the Rockets throat, putting up 10 points in a matter of minutes, sending the Warriors on a nice that helped them pull away.
The Rockets aggressiveness continues, though. During what should have been a screen for Harden, Howard took the opportunity to elbow Andre Iguoadala in the neck. He was called for an offensive foul, but not for a flagrant. He did assess a technical foul earlier in the game, giving him 7 for the post-season, which would have given him a one-game suspension if the series would have gone to a Game 6.
The Splash Brothers ended the game with 46 points combined, with Steph Curry scoring 26 and Thompson with 20 of their own. Harrison Barnes came through with the biggest game for him of the playoffs, scoring 24 points and bringing down 7 rebounds.
With this series win, Golden State is headed to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1975. The Warriors will now face LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The NBA Finals start on June 4 in Oakland at Oracle Arena. It should be an interesting series.
FINAL: GS 104 | HOU 90
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