Clippers shock Warriors to send series back to LA

Lou Williams hit a fadeaway jumper with 1:29 left and finished with 33 points and 10 assists, the Warriors uncharacteristically clanked shots much of the second half and couldn't make key stops, and the Los Angeles Clippers sent their first-round series back home with a 129-121 Game 5 win over Golden State on Wednesday night.

No clinch celebration just yet for the two-time defending champions, who lead 3-2 but needed far more than Kevin Durant's playoff career-high 45 points.

The Clippers stymied Golden State's comeback effort on the very court at Oracle Arena where Los Angeles rallied from 31 points down in Game 2 for the largest comeback in NBA post-season history.

Game 6 is Friday back in Los Angeles.

Patrick Beverley took a big charge against Klay Thompson with 1:40 left and scored 17 points for his best outing of the series.

Houston and James Harden are on to the second round and waiting for another chance at the champs. The Clippers said not just yet, they're not done.

The Rockets, who squandered a 3-2 series lead to the Warriors in last year's Western Conference finals, eliminated the Jazz with a 100-93 Game 5 victory at home a few hours earlier Wednesday.

Danilo Gallinari added 26 points and seven rebounds, and Montrezl Harrell had 24 points as the eighth-seeded Clippers are keeping things interesting until the end.

Durant made a four-point play to start the fourth and the Warriors had to rally much like the Clippers clawed back to overcome a 31-point deficit and steal Game 2 last week with the biggest comeback in NBA post-season history.

Durant raised his arm late and called on the Oracle Arena crowd for a major assist — the Warriors needed every little bit of help. Thompson's 3 at 4:02 made it 116-114 and Durant tied it on a driving dunk the next time down.

Stephen Curry scored 24 points and Thompson 22 but Golden State didn't have it on defence.

Durant shot 14 for 26 in his third performance of at least 30 points in the series and ninth 40-point post-season effort.

Curry, already the NBA's career playoff leader for made 3-pointers, reached 400 post-season 3s.

Golden State trailed 71-63 at halftime despite making 10 of 16 3s but allowed Los Angeles to shoot 56%, and the Clippers finished at 54.1%.

Gallinari hit a 3 out of the break then a free throw following Draymond Green's technical and Los Angeles made it 81-66 on JaMychal Green's 3 at the 9:09 mark and the Warriors called timeout.

Rockets survive and advance

James Harden scored 26 points and the Houston Rockets outlasted the Utah Jazz 100-93 on Wednesday night to win their first-round playoff series 4-1.

The Rockets advanced to the Western Conference semifinals for the third straight season and will face the winner of the Los Angeles Clippers-Golden State Warriors series.

Ricky Rubio cut Houston's lead to 94-93 on a jump shot with about a minute left. P.J. Tucker missed two free throws, but grabbed a loose ball seconds later and was fouled again. This time he made both shots to make it 96-93.

Harden blocked a shot by Ruby Gobert on Utah's next possession and he made two free throws to extend the lead to 98-93 with 38 seconds left.

Donovan Mitchell, who was just 4 of 22, missed a 3-pointer after that and Chris Paul added two more free throws to secure the victory.

Jazz's Mitchell struggles

The Rockets were helped by a solid game from Clint Capela, who had 16 points and 10 rebounds. He acknowledged that he was having trouble breathing in the Game 4 loss because of an upper respiratory infection and was held to just four points.

After scoring 31 points to lead Utah to the victory in Game 4, Mitchell managed just 12 points on a night he missed all nine of his 3-point attempts.

Harden struggled to get going early and didn't score in the first quarter. But after missing his first seven shots and 11 of his first 12 attempts, he finally found a rhythm.

Royce O'Neal came off the bench to lead Utah with 18 points, Rubio had 17 and Jae Crowder added 15. Gobert wasn't much of a factor in this one, scoring just nine points with 10 rebounds.

The Jazz opened the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run to take a 77-75 lead with 9 minutes left. Rubio had two steals and a basket to help Utah go on top.

Houston ended its scoring drought after that, scoring the next five points, capped by a three-point play from Harden to make it 80-77.