Largely thanks to a postseason career-high 45 points from James Harden, the Houston Rockets lived to play another night in the Western Conference Finals.
The Rockets held off the Golden State Warriors 128-115, forcing a Game 5 back in The Bay.
Harden shot 13-of-22 from the field, including seven three-pointers.
Per the Houston Chronicle:
They had been routed in this post-season even before they were demolished in Game 3 on Saturday. They were upset with losses along the way. But this one hit them harder than the others, driving them beyond even those previous rallies back to prolong their season before they would find themselves on that familiar brink of elimination again. […] By now, however, they know how to ease their pain. Once again, the Rockets were their best when things were their worst, bouncing back for a start-to-finish 128-115 win over the Golden State Warriors that kept them alive in the Western Conference Finals, sending the series back to Oakland for Game 5 on Wednesday as they put up more points against the Warriors than any team has this season.
“We don’t want to go home, man,” Corey Brewer said. “I guess everybody needed to get mad. I feel like it was good for us. We got mad and we did what we needed to do.” […] “We couldn’t let anybody come in here and sweep up. Somebody is going to make history. Why not us?”
None of the previous 116 teams to face an 0-3 deficit in an NBA playoff series has rallied back to win the series. With Monday’s win, however, the Rockets are 7-2 under Kevin McHale when facing elimination, winning four elimination games this season. […] “They were embarrassed after Game 3 so you expected them to come out like that,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. You kind of expected them to fight like the way they did.”
