The Golden State Warriors inched one step closer to a first appearance in the NBA Finals in 40 years after trouncing the Rockets in Houston to take a 3-0 lead in their Western Conference Finals series. Led as ever by MVP Stephen Curry and his remarkable shooting — he reached 40 points with six minutes of the game left to play — Golden State took a 31-point lead into the fourth quarter before closing the game out 115-80.
After Golden State had taken two hard-fought games on home court in Oakland — Game 2 ended 99-98 on Thursday night — this one wasn’t even close. Rockets needed a win to get back in the series and were looking to impress in front of an expectant home crowd, watching their first conference finals in 18 years, but Golden State soon wrested control and led 30-18 by the end of the first quarter. It was a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, despite the Rockets’ best attempts to reel them in.
James Harden, second behind Curry in MVP voting, got the Rockets within nine minutes after sinking a couple of free throws halfway through the second quarter, but then Curry took control of the game and Golden State stretched their lead to 25 points by the half.
The Rockets rallied strongly in the third quarter, managing to close within 18 points at one stage, but there was no stopping Curry and Golden State, and the game was pretty much settled by the early minutes of the fourth quarter
Curry had a truly phenomenal night for Golden State, mixing his trademark immaculate three-point shooting with deftly finished layups and superb rebounding . He set a new record for three-point shots made in a NBA postseason series with his 59th three-pointer — he reached 64 by the end of the game — in 13 playoff games arriving with three minutes of the second quarter left to play. The previous record belonged t0 Reggie Miller, who scored his 58 points over 22 games in 2000.
LeBron, Steph Curry, Tim Duncan: Only players in the last 30 yrs with 30 pts/5 asts in 1st 3 games of a conf finals. pic.twitter.com/LpXHP1v6Li
— ESPN (@espn) May 24, 2015
Golden State’s first two wins had been highlighted by the fierce head-to-head between Curry and Harden . Harden scored 28 points, to Curry’s 33 in Game 1, and topped that with a game-high 38 points in the narrow loss to Golden State in Game 2. But the Rockets guard struggled this time, finishing with 17 points on the back of three-for-16 shooting after being stifled by Golden State’s intense defending.
Golden State now stand one win away from an NBA final appearance, something that has eluded the franchise since 1975, and what could very well be a much anticipated match up against Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. They’ll take heed though, that Houston were in a similar hole — down 3-1 to LA Clippers — in the last round, and they managed to turn it around and take the series.
All NBA Fans get ready, LeBron James vs. Steph Curry in the NBA Finals. I can’t wait!
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 24, 2015
Yet, the weight of history is firmly on the side of the Golden State Warriors; on the 116 occasions that a team has gone 0-3 down in NBA history, only three times have the series gone on to a Game 7. And the trailing team has never won.
[Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images]
