By ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON (AP) — Jalen Green made two free throws with 3.5 seconds left and the Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors, 91-90, on Wednesday night, Dec. 11, to advance to the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas.
Houston snapped a 15-game skid against the Warriors, winning for the first time in the series since Feb. 20, 2020. The Rockets will face Oklahoma City, which beat Dallas in the other West quarterfinal game on Tuesday night, in the semifinals on Saturday.
Alperen Sengun led the Rockets with 26 points and 11 rebounds and Jabari Smith Jr. added 15 points.
Houston led by 14 before falling behind late to set up the thrilling finish.
Houston trailed by six with about 1 1/2 minutes left before Fred VanVleet made a 3-pointer and Sengun added a layup with 27 seconds to go to cut the lead to one.
Stephen Curry missed a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left and Gary Payton II grabbed the rebound, but Green intercepted his pass and was fouled by Jonathan Kuminga to set up the winning free throws.
The Warriors had a chance to win it at the buzzer but Smith blocked Brandin Podziemski’s 3-point attempt.
Meanwhile, Trae Young had 22 points and 11 assists, De’Andre Hunter and Jalen Johnson outplayed the Knicks frontcourt and the Atlanta Hawks took their surprising NBA Cup run all the way to the semifinals in Las Vegas, beating New York, 108-100.
Hunter scored 24 points and Johnson had 21 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists for the Hawks, who were perhaps the surprise team of the tournament after knocking off the defending champion Celtics in Boston and NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers in group play to reach the knockout stage as the No. 3 seed in the East.
Now they will face another East power, the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, on Saturday in a semifinal matchup.
Josh Hart scored 21 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 19 rebounds for the Knicks, who went 4-0 in group play and shot out to a 12-point lead Wednesday. But as in the 2021 playoffs, it was Young who was celebrating on the floor of Madison Square Garden after eliminating the Knicks.
