Rockets stay alive with blowout win over Warriors

Rockets Amen Thompson
The Rockets beat the Warriors, 131-116. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Fred VanVleet scored 26 points, Amen Thompson added 25 and the Houston Rockets avoided elimination with a 131-116 rout of the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of a first-round playoff series Wednesday night.

Game 6 is Friday in San Francisco.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr threw in the towel early in this one with the game out of hand. A layup by VanVleet midway through the third quarter made it 93-64, and Kerr called timeout and cleared his bench.

Houston coach Ime Udoka followed suit with about a minute to go in the third and his team up 105-76. He put all his starters back in with about eight minutes left after Golden State cut the lead to 109-92.

Dillon Brooks added 24 points on a night when all five Houston scored in double figures.

A 9-5 run by the Warriors got them within 114-101 before a fracas broke out with about four minutes to go. Pat Spencer pushed Brooks and then was ejected after headbutting Alperen Sengun in the ensuing scuffle.

Houston went on a 7-2 run after that to put the game away.

The Rockets put together their best game this postseason to extend the series after losing both games in California, including Game 3, which Jimmy Butler sat out with an injury,

They raced to a 14-point lead after one quarter and by the time Stephen Curry made his first basket on a 3-pointer midway through the second, they led 55-32.

They had a 27-point lead at halftime behind 19 points from VanVleet.

Butler managed just eight points in 25 minutes on 2-of-10 shooting after combining for 52 points in the two full games he’d played in this series.

Curry was 4 of 12 for 13 points after scoring more than 30 points in two of the first four games to move the Warriors within a game of clinching the series.

The Warriors made 15 of 44 3-pointers and shot 41.7% overall. The Rockets made 13 of 30 3s and shot 55.1%.

By extending the series, the Rockets have a chance to become the 14th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven series. Houston has done it twice, most recently in the 2015 Western Conference semifinals against the Clippers.

The Warriors were on the wrong end of such a comeback, losing the 2016 NBA Finals to LeBron James and Cleveland after having a 3-1 advantage.

Golden State has dominated the Rockets in the playoffs, eliminating them four times between 2015 and 2019.

VanVleet caught up with Vanessa Richardson after the win.

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It's go time! Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

The Rockets got back in the playoffs after a four-season absence with a revitalizing season under coach Ime Udoka. Houston won 52 games despite lacking a top-25 scorer and relying largely on defensive intensity — but that formula hasn't looked like enough to take four games from Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler.

When/where to watch: Game 5, 7:30 p.m. EDT (TNT)

BetMGM says: Rockets by 4.5

The Warriors seized control of this feisty series Monday night by taking over in the fourth quarter. Butler did much of the work while playing through injury, scoring 23 points in the second half and 14 in the final period.

For all their toughness, the Rockets' lack of a top offensive player was glaring in Game 4. Leading scorer Jalen Green didn't get a bucket in the fourth quarter — not even taking a shot during the 7:02 he spent on the court — and finished with just eight points.

Yet the Rockets will draw hope from the fact they kept it close, with Fred VanVleet missing a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Houston is hoping a return home will spark Green, who hit eight 3-pointers and scored 38 points in the Rockets' Game 2 victory.

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