Warriors Advance To Second Playoffs Round Without Curry After 114-81 Game 5 Win Over Rockets

Klay Thompson scored 27 points to lead the Golden State Warriors, who were missing reigning MVP Steph Curry to a knee injury, to a 114-81 Game 5 victory over the Houston Rockets at Oracle Arena on Wednesday night.

Warriors Advance To Second Playoffs Round Without Curry After 114-81 Game 5 Win Over Rockets

”None of us can do it alone,” Thompson, who hit seven 3-pointers, stated before the game when he said the Warriors had to come together and step up their game in order to win the game without Curry.

Draymond Green added 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for Golden State, who will now advance to the second round to face the winner of the Clippers-Trail Blazers series. The Warriors won the first-round series 4-1, and Portland leads 3-2 in their series.

”Everybody, they think Steph goes down and the entire series changes. But we thought otherwise,” Green said.

Thompson became the first player in NBA history to score at least seven 3s in consecutive playoff games, while Shaun Livingston scored 16 points for his third double-digit performance in three games while filling in for Curry this series.

”We’re blessed, we are really lucky. You lose your point guard, you lose the MVP, and to be able to throw Shaun Livingston out there, he’s a fantastic basketball player, a great teammate,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

Curry, who sat on the bench while nursing his sprained right knee, emphatically bobbed his head, clapped and bowed to Thompson during starter introductions. The NBA’s leading scorer is sidelined for at least two weeks with a sprained right MCL that occurred after he slipped awkwardly on the final play of the first half of Game 4 on Sunday.

”He was just joking around and having a lot of fun. It was a game with a lot of joy,” Kerr said about Curry. ”Steph was having a great time.” Kerr was named NBA’s Coach of the Year on Tuesday.

James Harden led the Rockets with 35 points, 25 of which came in the first half.

”The season, from the beginning, wasn’t going our way. Just had too many distractions,” Harden said. ”It’s just been like a bumpy road this entire season.”

Harden scored 14 points early on 6-of-7 shooting, but the rest of the Rockets were 0 for 16 before Patrick Beverley’s follow shot with 11:26 left in the second quarter, which came right after Michael Beasley’s shanked alley-oop dunk attempt.

The Warriors delivered a fantastic second half in Sunday’s Game 4, finishing off the 121-94 victory with a playoff-record 21 3-pointers and 38 assists on 46 field goals.

Dwight Howard ended his terrible series with eight points on 3-for-13 shooting and 21 rebounds for the Rockets, remaining on the floor long after the rest of the starters were finished.

”He wanted to stay, he wanted to finish,” interim Houston coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. ”He didn’t want to quit. He didn’t want to lay down and bail out of the fight. … That’s the image he wanted to leave people with.”

OAKLAND, CA – APRIL 27: Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriors goes up for a shot against Patrick Beverley #2 of the Houston Rockets in Game Five of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2016 NBA Playoffs at ORACLE Arena on April 27, 2016 in Oakland, California.

Article by Pablo Mena