Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry produced a dominant second-half display to eliminate the Houston Rockets from the NBA play-offs and advance to the Western Conference Finals.
The back-to-back champions overcame the Rockets with a 118-113 win on Friday to win the best-of-seven series 4-2.
Curry, 31, failed to score in the first half, but scored 33 points in 22 minutes in the second.
“A night like tonight doesn’t happen without belief in myself,” Curry said.
“I’ve had games like this before, just not as drastic going from zero to 33,” the three-time NBA champion added.
The Warriors are aiming to win their fourth championship in the past five years and will face either the Denver Nuggets or the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference finals, which start in Oakland, California on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the Milwaukee Bucks reached the Eastern Conference finals after beating the Boston Celtics 116-91 to take the series 4-1.
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Bucks will face either the Toronto Raptors or the Philadelphia 76ers, who are tied 3-3 in their series.
