In a Game 6 that did not disappointment, the back-to-back and reigning champion Golden State Warriors battled through a close contest without postseason scoring leader Kevin Durant.
They clinched a 118-113 win over a Houston Rockets’ team that beat the Warriors 3-1 in the regular season but choked when it counted most.
Durant’s absence due to a calf strain was not the only obstacle for the Warriors — superstar guard Stephen Curry went scoreless in the first half and the team had to rely on a gaggle of bench players to clinch the series and advance to the Western Conference Finals.
Curry led the way with 33 points, all scored in the second half, but Klay Thompson nailed some timely three-pointers on his way to 27 points, two rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal.
Andre Iguodala, serving as a starter in the absence of DeMarcus Cousins, was the only other starter to score in double figures, with 17 points and five rebounds. But Draymond Green was a defensive powerhouse — with intangibles not appearing on the box score — and finished with eight points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, one steal and one block.
Meanwhile, Kevon Looney and Shaun Livingston — both coming off the bench — had one of the best games of their careers. Looney scored 14 points in 20 minutes, but also filled out the stat sheet with five rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal. Livingston’s 11 points were a playoff career-high.
Curry tweaked his dislocated finger in the second half and Durant did not travel with the team as he nurses his injured calf. Durant is due to be re-evaluated next week. But with the next series starting early in the week, it seems unlikely he will be ready to go.
As for Curry, the team is surely hoping he only aggravated the original injury rather than adding on a new one. With Cousins possible to play in the Finals (but not the conference finals), the concern for the Warriors will be depth, in the event either Durant and/or Curry can’t go.
The Warriors will tip off in the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday, May 14, against the winner of Sunday’s Portland Trail Blazers-Denver Nuggets Game 7. The time has not yet been determined.
