Jason Terry guaranteed a Rockets win in Game 5 after hearing the news about Steph Curry. Klay Thompson had other plans and proceeded to shoot the Rockets out of the arena on Wednesday as Golden State iced the series, 114-81.
The Warriors wasted no time and jumped out to a healthy 17-point lead in the first, 37-20. Klay Thompson had 11 on 4/5 shooting to lead while Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala had ten each to aid the effort. Draymond Green was the acting point forward and handed out five dimes while scoring six and grabbing three rebounds. It was the exact opposite for Houston. James Harden was the only Rocket to have any success on offense and scored 18 of their 20 points on 6/8 shooting — no other player on the team hit a field goal, and Dwight Howard had the other two points.
It was much of the same for Houston in the following quarter, except they got lucky as Golden State’s offense slowed down. The Warriors poured in 22 additional points on 10/21 shooting with Green and Brandon Rush leading the way with five apiece; Klay Thompson attempted just three shots and had two points. Harden was, yet again, the leading scorer with seven, but he was lucky enough to get some help from teammates this time around — Howard had four, and Donatas Motiejunas, Patrick Beverley, and Michael Beasley all had two. The Warriors led 59-37 at the half.
With the lead lengthening, Thompson made it his business to eliminate a comeback by Houston. He shot 5/6 in the third, including 4/5 from downtown, for 14 points in a little more than eight minutes of playing time. His teammates followed suit as they put together 16 more points and shot 50% from the field. The Rockets put together a 22-point effort with five from Harden, Motiejunas, and Beasley, but the series was effectively over.
James Harden had 35 to lead all scorers, but no other Rocket scored more than 11. Dwight Howard had eight points and 21 rebounds in what was his last game in Houston, possibly.
Klay Thompson had 27 points and made seven threes to become the only player in playoff history to have two straight performances with seven or more threes. Livingston had 16 while filling in for Curry, Rush had 15, and Draymond Green nearly triple-doubled with 15 points, eight assists, and nine rebounds.
Golden State, more than likely, will be taking on the Portland Trail Blazers in the second round as they lead 3-2 against a decimated Clippers team with no Chris Paul or Blake Griffin.
