The Houston Rockets defeated the Golden State Warriors 97-96 to grab their first win in the Western Conference first-round playoffs at Toyota Center on Thursday.
To say the Rockets needed this win would be a drastic understatement. Houston had a 17-point lead early in this game, but let that slip away and had to rely on a James Harden game-winner to win. Despite shooting under 40 percent from the field, Houston made five more three's than the Warriors and outrebounded them 52-43. Golden State now has a 2-1 lead and will stay in Houston for Game 4.
The Warriors had to play this game without Stephen Curry and it was clear they missed the MVP. Marreese Speights was great off the bench though, as he led the team with 22 points in just 18 minutes of action. Klay Thompson scored 17 of his own, while also grabbing eight rebounds. Ian Clark's 11 points don't jump off the page, but he scored nine points in the fourth and hit a go-ahead basket with 10 seconds left. With a chance to win with three seconds left, Draymond Green sloppily bounced the ball off his foot and had it roll out of bounds to decide the game.
The Rockets came out with some serious motivation in Game 3, as they took a 13-point lead after the first. James Harden flirted with a triple-double in the win, as he tallied 35 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. Most importantly, Harden hit a game-winning jumper with less than three seconds ledt to pull out the win. Dwight Howard recorded a double-double, as he scored 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Donatas Montiejunas got his second-straight start and also recorded a double-double, totaling 14 points and 13 rebounds. The Rockets will look to even up the series in another home game on Sunday before they travel back to Oakland next Wednesday for Game 5.
