The Golden State Warriors are on to the Western Conference Semifinals.
After a gritty six-game series, the Warriors closed out the Los Angeles Clippers on the road to advance to face the Houston Rockets on Sunday.
The Warriors advance behind a huge performance from Kevin Durant.
Durant scored a career playoff high of 50 points, including 38 first-half points to help the defending NBA champions advance.
Earlier on Friday, Durant claimed that the Warriors, lacked energy in game 5 when the Clippers won the Warriors home floor for a second time in the series.
Durant made sure that the Warriors did not have to go back to Oakland for a game 7, but rather back home for a game 1 on Sunday against the Rockets.
The two-time NBA Finals MVP backed up his 45 point performance in game 5, by going 15-26 from the field, and 14-15 from the free-throw line.
The Warriors weren’t without worry though as they had a scare early against the Clippers.
Stephen Curry turned his ankle early in the game, but Curry would be okay as he finished with 24 points on his own.
Along with a triple-double from Draymond Green, the Warriors now face the Rockets who took them to the brink in last season’s Western Conference Finals.
The Warriors got a stiff test from the far-less talented Clippers. The Clippers won two games on the Warriors home floor, including a 31-point comeback in game 2.
The Clippers, while scrappy, were in the end no match for the Warriors and their fire power.
For the Warriors they now return home for a Rockets team that is chomping at the bit to have a chance to knock off the defending champs.
The Warriors host the Rockets in Game 1 of the Western semis on Sunday.
