Rockets force Game 7 with furious final quarter vs. Warriors

The Rockets outscored the Warriors 26-13 in the final quarter before Steve Kerr cleared his bench with a few minutes left, forcing a Game 7 at home in Houston. As a last gasp, Kerr resorted to his Hack-A-Adams strategy, intentionally fouling Rockets center Steven Adams, and he hit five of six free throws to make Kerr throw in the towel.

Golden State went with a new starting lineup that blew up in their faces. Buddy Hield and Gary Payton II started instead of the usual starters, Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody. Hield went scoreless in 17 minutes, committing four fouls. Payton was -12 in his 20 minutes, failing to slow down a reinvigorated Fred VanVleet.

VanVleet scored 29 points and shot 6-of-9 behind the arc, adding eight assists and eight rebounds. For the first three games of this series, VanVleet shot 6-of-29 from three-point range. Since then, he's 18-of-27, absolutely torching a Warriors defense willing to sacrifice some perimeter defense to contain All-Star Alperen Sengun.

That didn't work Friday night, as Sengun went for 21 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.

The Warriors got a lot of offense from Jimmy Butler (27 points, nine rebounds, eight assists) and Steph Curry (29 points, six three-pointers), but their defense couldn't keep up. Curry went on a personal 11-0 run near the end of the second quarter to tie the game, but Houston came back with an 8-0 run of their own.

Now the veteran Warriors are facing a Game 7 on the road against the youthful, hungry Rockets. Houston's interior defense forced the Warriors to take over half their shots behind the arc Friday, and they made 30 percent. If they can't create some inside offense or hit more outside shots, they might blow a second memorable 3-1 lead in the Curry Era.