|
 Harden was close to unstoppable as he scored 38 points and rallied
his team from an eight-point deficit in the final two minutes but
all his hard work was undone when he slipped and lost the ball as
time expired, unable to get a shot away.
This season's MVP runner-up scored 10 of his team's final 12 points
and added 10 rebounds and nine assists but again had to accept
second billing to Golden State's Stephen Curry.
Curry finished with 33 points and teamed with backcourt mate Klay
Thompson to swarm Harden on the final play, lifting the Warriors to
a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
"I knew Klay had (Harden) squared up, I wanted to protect (Harden's)
left and I was able to stand him up," Curry told reporters. "That's
just determination. (Harden's) making great plays and it takes a
total team effort to guard him."
Thompson added 13 points and Andrew Bogut put up 14 for the
Warriors, who are two wins away from reaching their first NBA Finals
since 1975.
Game Three is in Houston on Saturday, where a desperately
disappointed Rockets will need to quickly regroup to climb back into
the series.
Houston, though, are no strangers to comebacks this postseason,
erasing a sizeable Game Six lead by the Los Angeles Clippers in the
second round of the playoffs, where they rallied to win the series
despite trailing 3-1.
Houston started slowly, falling 17 points behind in the second
quarter before rallying to tie the contest by halftime.
[to top of second column] |
Center Dwight Howard recorded 19 points and 17 rebounds after
leaving Game One with a knee injury, his presence helping to ease
Harden's workload in a fast-paced encounter.
On the final play of the game, Harden pulled down a rebound and
dribbled up the floor as the Rockets elected not to call a timeout.
After receiving a pass back from Howard, he ran into a fatal double
team that caused him to lose control of the ball and end up falling
to the ground as the final buzzer sounded.
"I'm kicking chairs (in the locker room after the game). It's
frustrating to give the game away like that," Harden said. "We let
two slip away. Now we're going home."
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by John O'Brien)
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