Warriors edge Rockets in Game 1 after Stephen Curry dagger, chaotic finish featuring Chris Paul ejection

Whenever the Warriors and Rockets get together, you can expect fireworks. Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal certainly provided some on Sunday afternoon, as the Warriors defeated the Rockets 104-100 in a wild finish.

The two teams battled on a fairly even playing field in the fourth quarter after what had been a total game of runs. Every time it seemed like the Warriors would pull away, the Rockets would respond in turn.

Houston trailed by six with under nine minutes to play before a 6-0 run tied the game. When Golden State went up 96-91 with under three to play, Eric Gordon hit a three-pointer to trim the deficit to two. And when the Rockets again held a five-point advantage, James Harden scored an and-one to make the score 100-98 Warriors with 40 seconds remaining.

The next sequence of events was as crazy as the rest of the fourth quarter. After being listed as questionable last night, Stephen Curry hit an apparent dagger of a three for the Warriors:

Steph called Game 1 pic.twitter.com/VNLt7FMi6K

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 28, 2019

But after a James Harden dunk made the score 103-100, Chris Paul stole the ball from Kevin Durant. At the other end, Harden’s three-pointer for the tie was no good, but Paul secured the long rebound. As he dribbled back out to the arc, he appeared to make contact with Klay Thompson as he fed the ball towards Eric Gordon.

In a wild scramble, Gordon stepped out of bounds, and Paul was ejected after receiving his second technical foul. Curry then knocked down the technical free-throw attempt to seal the game.

Durant and Harden each led all scorers with 35 points apiece, but Harden shot just 9 of 28 from the field and 4 of 16 from beyond the arc.

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