Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) moves the ball down court against the Houston Rockets during the second half in game two of the Western Conference Finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland on Thursday. Picture: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

 

DPA/Los Angeles


James Harden had the game in his hands for the Houston Rockets, but let it slip away.
League MVP Stephen Curry scored 33 points and the Golden State Warriors spoiled a heroic effort by Harden to hold off the visiting Rockets 99-98 on Thursday for a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.  
“It’s great competition,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s two teams that really want to get to the Finals.
“Every game is probably going to be like this, but we’re right where we need to be. We won the two at home and now we head to Houston.”
Harden had 38 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to help Houston erase a 17-point second-quarter deficit.
With eight seconds left, the MVP runner-up had a shot to complete the comeback after Harrison Barnes missed a reverse layup attempt at the other end.
Harden raced up court but was trapped by Curry and Klay Thompson on the left wing. He passed to Dwight Howard and got it back, but bobbled the ball as time expired, setting off a roar from the more than 19,500 yellow and gold clad crowd at Oracle Arena.
“They did a good job of having two guys on me so I couldn’t attack,” Harden explained. “It’s frustrating to give the game away like that.  Ten out of 10 times we’ll take that play.”   
“Klay funneled him right to me,” Curry said. “We didn’t want him to get a shot off and be a hero. We got it done.”
Australian Andrew Bogut had 14 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots, Thompson netted 13 and Draymond Green added 12 for top-seeded Golden State, which improved to 6-0 against the Rockets this season. Centre Dwight Howard collected 19 points and 17 rebounds despite playing with a left knee sprain for second-seeded Houston, which lost Tuesday’s opener 110-106.    
“To lose by one stings, but we have to stay positive,” Howard said.
“It’s the first to four and we’re not going to stop fighting.”
The Rockets know what it takes to come back after overcoming a 3-1 deficit to beat the LA Clippers in the semifinals.
“We’re not going to go anywhere,” Rockets coach Kevin McHale said.
“We’re just going to keep standing here and swinging.”  
Golden State raced out to a 36-28 lead after the opening quarter as Curry led the way with 15 points, including four triples.
The gap grew to 49-32 on a Barnes 3-pointer with 7:43 left in the second quarter. But Harden ran off 12 points in a 23-6 period-ending burst and the game was knotted at 55-apiece at the break.
The Warriors led 77-75 after three and 98-90 with 1:39 left after Curry made a nifty move on Terrence Jones to create space and nailed his fifth 3-pointer from the left wing.  
But Harden kept coming, hitting four free throws around a dunk to pull the Rockets within 99-96 with 50 seconds remaining.  The Rockets got the ball back after Corey Brewer forced an 8-second backcourt violation. Howard’s slam cut it to one, setting up the final play.