HOUSTON — Jalen Green made two free throws with 3.5 seconds left and the Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors 91-90 on Wednesday night time to advance to the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas.
Houston snapped a 15-game skid in opposition to the Warriors, successful for the primary time within the sequence since Feb. 20, 2020. The Rockets will face Oklahoma City, which beat Dallas within the different West quarterfinal recreation on Tuesday night time, within the semifinals on Saturday.
Alperen Sengun led the Rockets with 26 factors and 11 rebounds and Jabari Smith Jr. added 15 factors.
Houston led by 14 earlier than falling behind late to arrange the thrilling end.
Houston trailed by six with about 1 1/2 minutes left earlier than Fred VanVleet made a 3-pointer and Sengun added a layup with 27 seconds to go to chop the result in one.
Stephen Curry missed a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left and Gary Payton II grabbed the rebound, however Green intercepted his move and was fouled by Jonathan Kuminga to arrange the successful free throws.
The Warriors had an opportunity to win it on the buzzer, however Smith blocked Brandin Podziemski’s 3-point try.
Entering Wednesday, the Warriors had been 461-0 when main by 6 or extra factors within the ultimate 1:30 of a recreation beneath Steve Kerr.
Takeaways
Warriors: Golden State beat the Rockets twice this season with out Curry earlier than dropping Wednesday in a recreation the place he had 19 factors.
Rockets: This younger workforce confirmed poise in ending this one after squandering a double-digit lead.
Key second
Green’s hustle on getting the ball late to attract the foul to arrange the successful free throws.
Key stat
Houston received regardless of making simply 6 of 27 3-pointers.
Up subsequent
While Houston heads to Las Vegas this weekend, the Warriors will return to regular-season play Sunday at Dallas.
Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used on this report.
