HOUSTON — James Harden nailed a turnaround jumper in the lane with 2.7 seconds left, and the Houston Rockets held on for a 97-76 win over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night in Game 3 of a Western Conference first-round playoff series at Toyota Center.
The defending champion Warriors, again playing without star guard Stephen Curry, who has an injured right ankle, still lead the best-of-seven series 2-1. Game 4 set for Sunday at Toyota Center.
The Rockets blew a 17-point lead and trailed with 10.6 seconds left when Trevor Ariza threw away an inbounds pass that facilitated a fastbreak layup by Warriors reserve guard Ian Clark.
Harden followed with a quick dribble, penetrated the lane and spun free before nailing the short jumper. Warriors forward Draymond Green dribbled the ensuing inbounds pass off his foot and out of bounds for a turnover with one second left.
Harden finished with 35 points, eight rebounds and nine assists to pace five Rockets in double figures. Donatas Motiejunas contributed 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Dwight Howard added 13 points and 13 rebounds but missed two free throws with 3:07 left.
Reserve forward Marreese Speights paced the Warriors, who played a second consecutive game without Curry, with 22 points. Klay Thompson contributed 17 points and eight rebounds, and Shaun Livingston added 16 points.
What Speights started in the second quarter and carried through the third, Livingston picked up in the fourth. Following a pair of Harrison Barnes free throws that cut the Houston lead to six points, Livingston added three pull-up jumpers, the last with 8:59 left to cut it to 81-80.
The Warriors followed with a three-minute scoreless spell yet hung tough. After trailing 88-80, Golden State rallied with seven consecutive points to take its first lead since 2-0 when Clark nailed a floater with 1:25 left for a 94-93 edge.
The Rockets sought an early burst, and already leading 21-15, closed the first period with a 10-3 run.
Harden was the linchpin, tallying seven consecutive points before Ariza turned a turnover into a transition dunk. Harden closed the quarter with a free throw, a pull-up jumper plus a basket following his offensive rebound for a 13-point advantage entering the second.
Houston pushed its lead to 53-36 when Jason Terry and Harden sank consecutive 3-pointers, but that was when Speights capped his scorching streak.
The Warriors benefited from a technical foul on Howard, closing the half with nine consecutive points. Speights drilled his third 3-pointer of the half with 2.4 seconds left, cutting the deficit to 55-48 at the intermission. Speights scored 14 points in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, every time the Rockets appeared on the brink of pulling away, Speights delivered. He posted all eight of his points in the period inside the last four minutes, including a dunk and driving layup that cut the deficit to 78-72.
NOTES: Warriors G Stephen Curry was inactive for a second consecutive game as Golden State took a cautious approach to his return from a right ankle sprain. While Curry has shown improvement regarding the injury, the team opted against his playing following four days of inactivity. If Curry participates in three-on-three drills on Friday and five-on-five Saturday, chances are good that he will return for Game 4 on Sunday. Shaun Livingston again started in place for Curry. … Rockets owner Leslie Alexander will donate $500,000 to the Greater Houston Storm Relief Fund established by Houston mayor Sylvester Turner. The check was presented during Game 3 on Thursday night. Heavy rains and floods ravaged the city this week. … Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff stuck with his Game 2 starting lineup in part because F Donatas Motiejunas brings a skill level plus the decision-making that matches up well against the Warriors’ defense.