Curry guides Warriors to NBA Finals with big third quarter

May 29 (UPI) -- Stephen Curry scored 14 points in the third quarter, helping the Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets and advance to the NBA Finals.

Golden State fought for a 101-92 victory in Game 7 Monday at the Toyota Center in Houston. The win secures a Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers matchup in the NBA Finals for a fourth consecutive season.

"This is a special moment," Curry told reporters. "We talked about it leaving this building after Game 5, this was a part of our story that we hadn't been through before. Our backs against the wall, not having home court advantage, needing to win two games to keep ourselves alive.

"This is a true testament to how hard it is to get to the NBA Finals, how hard it is to have a chance to play for a championship."

Curry led the Warriors' third-quarter attack, scoring 14 of his team's 33 points in the frame and giving Golden State a 76-67 advantage entering the fourth quarter. The Warriors trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half of Game 7, before mounting a comeback.

Houston carried a 24-17 advantage into the second quarter after getting 14 points from NBA MVP frontrunner James Harden in the opening 12 minutes. The Rockets led 54-43 at halftime, propelled by Eric Gordon and Clint Capela. Kevin Durant had 13 points at the break for the Warriors.

Golden State used a Curry 3-pointer to jump ahead 64-61 with 4:07 remaining in the third quarter and never lost the lead. The Rockets missed 27 consecutive 3-pointers and went 7-for-44 from downtown in the loss.

"One half of basketball. Two games, Games 6 and 7. One half of basketball," Harden said. "We just didn't have the same energy that we had in that first half or the pace. So, it's extremely frustrating."

Durant scored a game-high 24 points and had five rebounds and five assists in the win. Curry had 27 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds and four steals for the Warriors. Harden paced the Rockets, scoring 32 points and tallying six rebounds, six assists and four steals. Gordon scored 23 points and had six assists and three rebounds while starting in place of an injured Chris Paul.

The Warriors host Game 1 of the NBA Finals at 9 p.m. Thursday at Oracle Arena in Oakland.