(Reuters) – The Golden State Warriors survived a stirring James Harden-inspired fightback to take command of the Western Conference Final with a 99-98 Game Two victory over the Houston Rockets on Thursday.
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.
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 started slowly, falling 17 points behind in the second quarter before rallying to tie the contest by halftime.
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-past encounter.
