Thge set-up: The Houston Rockets are on the brink of the franchise's first trip to the NBA Finals since 1995, something which seemed very implausible after they lost Game 3 in Oakland 126-85. However, the Rockets have won two straight low-scoring games between the NBA's top-two offensive teams. The Warriors claimed their largest lead of Game 4 at 82-70 when Stephen Curry assisted on a Shaun Livingston dunk at the 10:45 mark. That play produced the 14th and final assist of the evening for Golden State. The Rockets would go on to hold the Warriors to 12 points in the fourth quarter (Golden State missed its final five FG attempts) to earn a 95-92 victory. The Rockets then took a 3-2 series lead with a home 98-94 win in Game 5. However, the win didn't come without a huge price, as PG Chris Paul had to leave with a hamstring injury in the final minute of that contest. He was ruled out of Saturday's Game 6 on Friday. It's obviously not something we wanted," Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni told reporters before Friday's practice. "I hate it for him above all. He's practically won us the past two games. But it's a great opportunity for other guys, and we have plenty to choose from. We'll be ready." As for the Warriors, who represented the West in the last three NBA Finals, they are not panicking about being one loss away from an early vacation. "I feel great about where we are right now," Golden State head coach Steve Kerr told reporters after Game 5. "That may sound crazy, but I feel it. I know exactly what I'm seeing out there, and we defended them beautifully (Thursday night). We got everything we needed. Just too many turnovers, too many reaches, and if we settle down a little bit, we're going to be in really good shape."

Houston: The Rockets have won the last two games despite a historic shooting slump from likely league MVPJames Harden, who ha snow missed his last 20 three-point attempts after going 0-of-11 from beyond the arc on Thursday. Harden scored a series-low 19 points on 5-of-21 shooting in Game 5. Eric Gordon has been a key contributor to the Rockets' success off the bench in the series. He has single-handedly outscored Golden State's reserves 38-16 in the last two games, both of which Houston has won to reverse what had been a 2-1 deficit in the series. Center Clint Capela recorded his first double-double of the series with 12 points and 14 rebounds on Thursday.

Golden State: Kevin Durant scored a team-high 29 points in Game 5 but was 8-of-22 from the floor and got caught in isolation several times instead of moving the ball. Durant is averaging 31.2 points on 46.5 percent shooting in the series after shooting 51.6 percent during the regular season.Thompson was listed as questionable for Game 5 but scored 23 points. Curry had 22 and Green 12 & 15. However, Andre Iguodala (knee) sat out for the second staright game and is questionable for Game 6. Looney started in his place these last two (both losses) and has added little (a combined eight points and nine rebounds). Steve Kerr admitted Friday that he had "no idea" whether Iguodala would be available for Game 6, while at the same time noting that "he's gotten incrementally better each day." Golden State's bench totaled just four points in Game 5 and it's hard to imagine that happening again.

The pick: With or without Iguodala, history says the Warriors will be tough to beat under the circumstances they'll be experiencing in Game 6. Since Kerr took over as coach in 2015, the Warriors are 36-6 at home in the postseason, including an NBA-record 16-game winning streak that was snapped in their 95-92 loss in Game 4. They've won 26 of their last 32 playoff games regardless of the site and have a 3-1 record under Kerr in potential elimination games, with the lone loss coming in Game 6 of the 2016 Finals against Cleveland. Hard to imagine teh Warriors losing here but this is a HUGE number. After the league's two-best offensive teams have just played games totaling just 187 and 192 points, I'm making the Over a 10* play.