Chris Paul had eight points in the final two minutes to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 117-114 win over the Houston Rockets and tie the series at two games apiece.
The Thunder forced turnovers and the Rockets could not hit from deep, which allowed Oklahoma City to catch up from a big third quarter deficit and then take the win in the fourth quarter.
For the second game in a row, the three primary Thunder guards combined for more than 70 points.
Paul finished the game with 26, Dennis Schroder with 30, four in the final 40 seconds, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 18.
They inched closer as the Rockets struggled from 3. Houston started both halves strong, including hitting their first 8 3s in the third quarter, but they got ice cold over the final 18 minutes.
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During that time, they were just 5-for-26 from deep.
Houston attempted 58 3-pointers, setting a new single-game playoff record.
The Rockets actually shot it quite well percentage-wise, finishing with a 39.7 percentage from deep, but it wasn’t timely enough.
Harden had 32 points and 15 assists while Eric Gordon had 23 points.
The Thunder had more points in the paint, more points off turnovers and only 16 fouls as they managed to even the series.
Now that it’s tied at two games apiece, Oklahoma City is in a different ballpark than it has been the last several days. Coming back from a 3-1 deficit is rare; at 2-2, it’s now a best-of-three series.
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