(CNN Philippines) — The Houston Rockets aren’t done yet.
Led by James Harden and Josh Smith, the Rockets defeated the Golden State Warriors, 128-115, to extend their Western Conference final series in the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs on Tuesday PHT (May 26).
It was the Rockets’ fourth straight win facing elimination in the postseason.
Harden scored a game-high 45 points, including seven three-pointers, to go along with nine rebounds and five assists.
Smith added 20 while Trevor Ariza and Dwight Howard had 17 and 14 markers, respectively.
Houston went on a tear to start the game, knocking down eight triples — three coming from Smith — to erect a 23-point lead, 45-22, at the end of the first quarter.
The Rockets shot 77% in the opening period, getting 13 and 10 points from Smith and Harden, respectively.
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The Warriors put up 37 points in the next frame to cut the deficit to 10 at the half, but the Rockets went on a 18-5 run midway in the third to push the lead back up to 22, 93-71.
A 14-5 spurt by Golden State at the beginning of the fourth trimmed the margin to six, 104-98, but Houston scored 10 straight points – capped by an alley-oop from Harden to Howard – to widen their gap to 16, 114-98, with 5:01 remaining in the game.
The Warriors pulled within eight after a dunk from Andre Iguodala but Harden made another one from deep at the 1:42 mark to keep the Rockets ahead by double-digits, 121-110, enough to seal the Game 4 victory.
Klay Thompson had 24 points, while Steph Curry pitched in 23 for Golden State. Draymond Green had a double-double of 21 points and 15 rebounds in the loss.
