National Basketball Association

Rockets beat Clippers, head to Western Conference Finals

Published May. 17, 2015 6:52 p.m. ET

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By Vincent Frank

The Houston Rockets pulled off one of the most astonishing comebacks in the history of the NBA Playoffs. After falling down 3-1 in the series, Houston won three consecutive games against the Los Angeles Clippers and will now take on the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.

After a stunning choke job by the Clippers at home in Game 6, most expected that Doc Rivers and company would fall in Game 7 in Houston.

That’s exactly what happened.

Leading throughout the game, Houston pulled out a 113-100 win to earn its first conference finals appearance since the 1996-1997 season.

After being benched for the final quarter in Game 6, MVP runner-up James Harden responded in a big way Sunday afternoon. He put up 31 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in the win. Dwight Howard added 16 points and 15 boards, while Trevor Ariza concluded an amazing series by netting 22 points on 6-of-12 from three-point range.

For the Clippers, it was a struggle on the offensive side of the ball. Blake Griffin and Chris Paul shot a combined 22-of-43 from the field, but the rest of the team just couldn’t get anything going. Outside of their two All-Stars, the Clippers shot just 39 percent. They also gave up 12 3-pointers and turned the ball over 18 times.

With this series wrapped up, Houston will now take on Golden State starting Tuesday night in Oakland. Unfortunately for Kevin McHale and company, the Rockets were swept by Steve Kerr’s Warriors during the regular season. In those four games, Golden State outscored Houston by a combined 61 points.

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