Rockets Heat Up to Even Series With Warriors at 1-1

James Harden had 27 points for the Rockets on Wednesday night, but it was the play of his teammates that helped Houston beat the Warriors to even their series at a game apiece.

Houston had five players score 16 points or more during their 127-105 win over Golden State including Eric Gordon (27), Trevor Ariza (19) and P.J. Tucker (a playoff career-high 22).

For the Warriors, Kevin Durant was excellent again with 38 points, but Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson struggled as they combined for 24 points and hit just 3 of 12 three-point attempts.

Thanks to their hot shooting and decent defense, the Rockets led by double digits for the majority of the game and didn’t trail after the first quarter.

“They were desperate tonight and played like it, and we weren’t and it showed,” said Golden State coach Steve Kerr. “We got outplayed the whole game … we got it handed to us. You can look at it any way you want … and parcel it out, but it didn’t matter who we had out there tonight we got beat.”

After Game 3 on Sunday, the teams will play Game 4 on Tuesday. Both will be in Oakland.

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Evan Bleier

Evan is a senior editor with InsideHook who earned a master’s degree in journalism from NYU and has called Brooklyn home since 2006. A fan of Boston sports, Nashville hot chicken and Kentucky bourbon, Evan has had his work published in publications including “Maxim,” Bleacher Report and “The Daily Mail.”