Golden State Warriors showed its championship mettle on Saturday, roaring back to rout Houston Rockets 115-86 to force a decisive game seven in the NBA Western Conference finals.
Klay Thompson scored 35 points, Stephen Curry scored 29 and Kevin Durant added 23 as Warriors rallied from a 17-point first-quarter deficit to knot the best-of-seven series at 3-3 — and keep their bid to reach a fourth straight championship series alive.
But in the early going it looked like Warriors would do just that.
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Rockets, who led the league with 65 regular season wins, ran roughshod over Golden State in the opening quarter as they raced to a 39-22 lead.
Houston’s Most Valuable Player candidate James Harden dominated early, finishing with 32 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
But the Warriors defence clamped down on Harden in the second half and Rockets felt the absence of injured point guard Chris Paul, who suffered a strained right hamstring in Rockets’ game-five victory.
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