By Associated Press Reporter
Published: 08:23 BST, 11 May 2019 | Updated: 09:44 BST, 11 May 2019
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The Golden State Warriors still have plenty of work to do if they hope to win their third straight championship.
But after fending off James Harden's Houston Rockets on Friday night without leading playoff scorer Kevin Durant to advance to the Western Conference finals, they did take a moment to celebrate the accomplishment.
'It shows you how much respect we have for Houston,' coach Steve Kerr said. 'We just finished the conference semi-finals series. We're only halfway home to where we want to be. And yet the celebration in there felt like a much bigger occasion and that's because of the challenge that this team put before us.'
Stephen Curry led the Golden State Warriors to victory over the Houston Rockets on Friday
Curry scored all of his 33 points in the second half to help the Warriors to a 118-113 win
Stephen Curry scored all of his 33 points in the second half to lead the Warriors to a 118-113 win.
Klay Thompson added 27 points to help two-time defending champions Golden State reach the conference finals for a franchise-record fifth straight year and eliminate Houston for the fourth time in five seasons. The Warriors did it with Durant sidelined by a calf injury sustained in the second half of their Game 5 victory.
'We're all very happy, but now we've got to get home and get some rest and prepare for the next round,' Kerr said.
There won't be a lot of time to recuperate with the conference finals starting on Tuesday night in Oakland against the winner of the Denver-Portland series. Kerr said he'd give his team the weekend off after most of his key players logged heavy minutes in this series in which each
