Comment on Warriors eager to finish off Rockets series

Warriors eager to finish off Rockets series HOUSTON — With possibly four games left in the Western Conference finals, the Warriors have two home games on the slate and are in need of just one win to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in 40 years. “We don’t want to go back home to do it,” Warriors power forward Draymond Green said. “Why not just finish it out?” Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson said. None of the first 116 NBA teams that have fallen into a 3-0 hole during a best-of-seven series have ever recovered to win the series, with only three even forcing a Game 7. Only nine teams that have been down 3-1 have ever pulled off the comeback magic, including Houston doing it to the Clippers in this postseason’s Western semifinals. [...] the Warriors seem less concerned about the Rockets than they do their own play, which served them well in closeout games against New Orleans and Memphis. The Warriors find themselves in the same situation that they faced against the Pelicans in the first round, when they took care of business on the road for the sweep. In Memphis, the Warriors could have sauntered through Game 6, confident they’d claim the West semifinal series at home in Game 7, but they dominated on the road instead. Two of the Warriors’ best postseason games have come in closeout opportunities, and the Warriors’ biggest stars have shined the brightest on those stages. In closeout wins against New Orleans and Memphis, the Warriors averaged a 10-point halftime leads and 12-point victories. The Pelicans and Grizzlies flailed to 42.5 percent shooting from the floor and 23.7 shooting from three-point range in those games as Stephen Curry, Thompson and Green have flourished. Curry has averaged 35.5 points on 66.7 percent three-point shooting to go along with 9.5 assists and seven rebounds in closeout games, Thompson has put up 22.5 points per game on 58.5 three-point shooting, and Green has posted 19 points per game on 60 percent field-goal shooting and 11 rebounds and five assists per game, just for the heck of it. “We obviously don’t want to have to play any extra games, if we don’t have to,” said Warriors center Andrew Bogut, who has spent his past two series banging with Memphis’ Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, then Houston’s Dwight Howard. If the Warriors sweep the Western Conference finals, they’ll have 10 days before the NBA Finals are scheduled to begin June 4. Since Cleveland is also favored to sweep the East finals — a scenario that would give the Cavaliers nine days of rest — league officially have started preliminary discussions about moving the start of the NBA Finals up to June 2. Warriors lead best-of-seven Western Conference finals 3-0 Warriors lead best-of-seven series 3-0.