HOUSTON – After Stephen Curry bounced back from the first scoreless first half of his playoff career to score 33 points in the last two quarters and help the Golden State Warriors eliminate the Houston Rockets, coach Steve Kerr stopped to talk with his star's parents.
He said he told Dell and Sonya Curry: "If that game didn't personify Steph Curry, I don't know what does."
Curry's huge second half enabled the Warriors to overcome the absence of Kevin Durant and get a 118-113 victory in Game 6 of he Western Conference semifinals Friday. Curry heard the chatter about how he had struggled in this series entering this game and admitted that he was "pretty terrible" before halftime.
"A night like tonight doesn't happen without belief in myself," Curry said.
Klay Thompson added 27 points to help two-time defending champion Golden State reach the conference finals for a franchise-record fifth straight year and eliminate Houston for the fourth time in five seasons. The Warriors did it with Durant sidelined by a calf injury.
"That was an absolute grind," Kerr said. "We're thrilled to be moving on."
James Harden led Houston with 35 points. Harden's layup got the Rockets within three with less than a minute to go, but Thompson made a three-pointer with 36.1 seconds remaining to extend Golden State's lead to 110-104.
A Harden three got Houston within five at 112-107 with 24 seconds left. Curry made two more free throws before P.J. Tucker hit a three for Houston. But two more free throws by Curry made it 116-110 with 12.3 seconds left. Then Harden dribbled it off his foot for the last of his six turnovers.
