Eric Gordon and Chris Paul lead Rockets to 98-94 win over Warriors; Rockets lead series 3-2

Posted: May 24, 2018 -- 11:59 pm CDT.

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HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- The Houston Rockets moved one win closer to the 2018 NBA Finals with another gritty, grimy victory Thursday night over the Golden State Warriors. Houston's 98-94 win over the Warriors gives the Rockets a 3-2 series lead in the 2018 NBA Western Conference Finals. Game 6 is Saturday, at 8 p.m. (Central Time), in Oakland, CA. According to ESPN Stats and Info, the winner of Game 5 in a series tied 2-2 has gone onto win the series 83% of the time.

"We’ve got gritty guys," P.J. Tucker said in the locker room after the game. "That’s part of the DNA of our team. Everybody always talks about us shooting threes and scoring all these points, but with each series and each game, we’ve been able to adapt (defensively) every single time."

Houston won despite shooting 37.2% from the floor tonight after winning Game 4 while shooting 39.0%.  The Rockets are actually 3-1 when shooting below 40.0% this postseason after losing 15 of their previous 18 playoff games when doing so dating back to 2007.  Prior to the past two games, Golden State had won its previous 13 playoff games when holding its opponent below 40.0% shooting.

The Rockets' win was a bit of a Pyrrhic victory as starting guard Chris Paul injured his right hamstring late in the game. His status for Game 6 (and Game 7) is unknown; but, more details will be announced Friday.

"He'll be evaluated tomorrow (Friday). But, obviously you saw him limp off, and he's a tough guy. So, they (Rockets medical staff) will do whatever they can do. If he's there, great, good for him. If he isn't, we have enough guys; and, it's time for somebody else to step up. We've got plenty of guys over there that will have some fresh legs, that's for sure. So, we'll be all right."

After scoring only 2 points and missing all 7 of his field goals in the first half, Paul made 6 of his final 12 shots and scored 18 points in the second half to help carry the Rockets while teammate James Harden struggled to make shots.

Harden finished the game with 19 points; however, Harden made only 5 of 21 field goal attempts including only 1 for 8 in the second half. Harden went 0 for 11 from the three-point line; and, Harden has missed 20 second three-point attempts in this series.

Rockets' Head Coach Mike D'Antoni is not concerned with Harden's current shooting slump and neither is Harden.

"He's due, right?" D'Antoni said after the game. "Next game he might make 10 straight, right? The thermostat will go off. No, no, there's no point (to talk about it with Harden), not at all. James, what he can do and the pressure he puts on the defense, getting to the foul line, he manufactured points in different ways.

"I'm just missing shots," Harden noted. "But we're winning; and, I'm trying to compete on the defensive end and do other things to help my team win.

"But, if we've got a guy like Eric Gordon making shots and being aggressive, who cares?"

Gordon scored 17 of his team-high 24 points to pick up the scoring slack. Gordon didn't shoot a high percentage (40.0%); but, the 6 shots he made were important including a three-point shot with 1:21 remaining in the game to give the Rockets a 95-91 lead.

After Gordon's basket, Golden State called timeout; and, an unlikely, Warrior, Draymond swished a three-point shot to trim Houston's lead to one (95-94) with 1:15 on the clock.

On Houston's next possession, Chris Paul missed a 9-foot driving floater in the paint. (This is where Paul suffered his hamstring injury.)

Golden State guard Quinn Cook missed a three-point shot. Trevor Ariza rebounded the missed shot; then, Harden missed a step back three-point shot attempt with 23.4 seconds on the game clock. After the missed shot bounded out of bounds, Golden State was awarded possession because a Houston player was the last player to touch the ball before it went out of bounds.

Golden State's Steph Curry drove to the hoop and lofted a 7-foot shot attempt off the glass. The ball bounced off the rim and Trevor Ariza pulled down the rebound. Ariza was fouled with 10.0 seconds remaining.

Ariza made the first free throw but missed the second foul shot attempt. Houston led 96-94.

Draymond Green pulled down the rebound; however, a few seconds ran off the clock before the Warriors called timeout with 6.7 seconds left in the game. The timeout called was Golden State's final timeout.

Since Ariza's missed foul shot was not grabbed before being dribbled, the Warriors' timeout meant the ball could not be advanced into the frontcourt after the timeout.

Therefore, the Warriors had to inbound the ball in the backcourt.

After the timeout, Steph Curry received the inbound pass and raced up the court. Instead of taking the final shot of the game, Curry passed the ball to Draymond Green rather the Kevin Durant or Klay Thompson. Green lost the ball with 3.4 seconds on the clock.

Eric Gordon picked up the loose ball and was fouled with 2.4 on the clock.

Gordon made both free throws to give Houston a 98-94 lead with only 2.4 seconds remaining; and, the Warriors did not have a timeout remaining. Gordon's made free throws were the final points in the ball game.

The Warriors had 18 turnovers tonight.  Golden State is averaging 16.3 turnovers per game in its three losses this series compared to 9.5 turnovers per game in its two wins.  The Rockets had 10 steals tonight and improve to 32-5 when having 10 or more dating back to the regular season (5-1 in playoffs).

The Rockets held the Warriors to 94 points tonight after Golden State scored 92 points in Game 4.  Prior to the past two games, Golden State did not score below 100 points in a playoff game in which Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant both played.

"We're a veteran team. We just know what to do. We know what it takes to win," Gordon said during his postgame press conference. "We definitely pride ourselves on defense, so it can create a lot of opportunities on offense. That's what we pride ourselves on."

Gordon had 10 of his team-high 24 points in the fourth quarter.  Gordon scored a total of 25 points in Game 2 and Game 3.  Gordon has scored 20 or more points twice this series and three times overall this postseason.  He scored 20 or more points 30 times during the regular season after doing so 19 times in his first season as a Rocket in 2016-17.  Gordon has scored 20 or more points off the bench five times over the past two postseasons as a Rocket.  That ties him with Sam Cassell for the most career 20-point playoff games by a Rockets reserve dating back to 1981-82.

Clint Capela had 12 points and 14 rebounds tonight, marking his seventh double-double of the postseason.  He had 42 double-doubles in 2017-18 after having a total of 25 his first three seasons.  Capela also had 2 blocks tonight.  Including the regular season, Houston is 42-7 when he has 2 or more blocks (7-2 in playoffs).

Houston improves to 11-0 when holding its opponent below 110 points this postseason, including 6-0 below 100.  During the regular season, the Rockets were 50-8 when holding opponents below 110 points, including 32-3 below the century mark.  The Rockets have won 10 straight playoff games when holding opponents below 100 points.

With the 3-2 series lead, the Rockets are one win away from eliminating the defending NBA champions and advancing to their first NBA finals since the 1994-'95 season.

Winning the closeout game, especially on the road, will be very difficult -- with or without Chris Paul.

"It’s a cool thought (advancing to the NBA Finals with one more win); but, we still got to get there," Trevor Ariza said in the locker room after the win. "We still have to play the game. We still have to give everything that we have to try to get a win.

"Obviously, I mean playing against the defending champions, they’ve been in so many different situations; so, it’s not going to be easy. None of the games have been easy. It’s just about us staying confident, staying focused, staying poised; and, I believe we can go up there and win."

If Chris Paul's hamstring injury keeps him from playing, Ariza said, "There is a concern, obviously. I hope he’s healthy. I hope he gets better and if not, somebody else has to step up and do what we’ve been doing all year, step in and try to help this team win."

P.J. Tucker said two key factors in the Rockets' winning Game 4 and Game 5: energy and effort.

"Effort, energy and effort. That’s it; that’s all you can do. That’s all you can control," said Tucker. "We just asked that everybody that subs in the game just give all energy and effort that you can while you’re in there and that’s what we do. We’ve had a focus about and business about us where our communication (is) good enough to help one another and just knowing our personnel in certain situations has been phenomenal. So, we’ll go back tomorrow (Friday) and look at film and try to be even better."

Gerald Green summed up the mood of the Rockets after the Game 5 win: "Man, we got to get one more. It feels good, but we got to get one more."

Houston improves to 7-2 at home this postseason while Golden State falls to 3-4 on the road.

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