Warriors vs Rockets in NBA Western finals

Stephen Curry (right) of the Golden State Warriors goes up for a shot on Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans during Game 5 of the NBA playoff’s Western Conference semifinals at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. The Warriors defeated the Pelicans, 113-104. GETTY IMAGES

OAKLAND, California – The series the basketball world has been craving for months is finally a reality. The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets will face off in the Western Conference finals.

The Warriors took care of their part Tuesday night (Wednesday, Philippine time) knocking off the New Orleans Pelicans 113-104 in Game 5, clinching a 4-1 series victory in the conference semifinals.

Game 1 of the Western Conference finals is Monday (Tuesday in the Philippines).

As usual, it was Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant leading the way, combining for 52 points, 13 rebounds and 15 assists.

Draymond Green nearly had a triple-double, scoring 19 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and dishing out nine assists.

After a close first half, the Warriors shut the game down with a 25-4 run to start the third quarter, much like they did in a Game 4 win in New Orleans.

The Warriors’ dominance was on full display during this stretch as they outscored the Pelicans 36-19 in the quarter, and 12-0 on fast-break points.

Meanwhile, Chris Paul scored 20 of his career-playoff-high 41 points in a peerless fourth quarter to carry the Houston Rockets past the finish line for a 112,102 win and eliminate the incredibly tough Utah Jazz in five games.

The win made the Rockets advance to the Western Conference finals.

On a night where All-Star running buddy James Harden didn’t have it going — just 18 points on 7-for-22 shooting in 35 minutes for the likely 2017-18 NBA Most Valuable Player, Paul took over. He drilled 13 of his 22 field-goal attempts — including eight straight 3-pointers, capped by a dagger-ish banker to put Houston up nine with 2:30 to go — and distributed 10 assists, hauled in seven rebounds and snagged a steal while logging a team-high 38 minutes without a single turnover.

The Jazz entered the game down two of their top guards, with starting point man Ricky Rubio still sidelined by a hamstring injury and key defensive reserve Dante Exum joining him with one of his own. Still, Quin Snyder’s club battled, coming back from an 11-point third-quarter deficit to take a lead entering the fourth behind a remarkable surge from rookie sensation Donovan Mitchell, only to watch him, too, go down hard after being stripped by Harden on a drive that led to a Rockets layup.

The Rookie of the Year hopeful, who had scored 22 points in a relentless third quarter to give Utah a lead entering the fourth quarter, needed to be helped off the court and back to the locker room by Jazz personnel.

Mitchell would eventually return to the sideline, but do so with his left shoe and sock off. He would not return to the game, forced to watch the final seven-plus minutes of Utah’s season tick away from the sideline. (ESPN)

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