HOUSTON – Jalen Green made two free throws with 3.5 seconds left and the Houston Rockets defeated the Golden State Warriors 91-90 on Wednesday night to advance to the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas.

Houston lost 15 games to the Warriors and won for the first time in the series since February 20, 2020. The Rockets will face Oklahoma City in the semifinals, which beat Dallas in the other West quarterfinal game on Tuesday night 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 for a thrilling finish.

Houston trailed by six points with about 1 1/2 minutes left before Fred VanVleet made a 3-pointer and Sengun added a layup with 27 seconds left to cut the lead to one.

Stephen Curry missed a three-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 decisive free throws.

The Warriors had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Smith blocked Brandin Podziemski’s 3-point attempt.

Takeaways

Warriors: Golden State beat the Rockets twice this season without Curry before losing on Wednesday in a game in which he had 19 points.

Rockets: This young team showed poise to finish this game after blowing a double-digit lead.

Key moment

Green’s rush to get the ball late to draw the foul and set up the crucial free throws.

Key statistics

Houston won despite making just 6 of 27 3-point shots.

Next

While Houston travels to Las Vegas this weekend, the Warriors return to regular season play on Sunday in Dallas.