The Houston Rockets needed a dominant fourth-quarter performance to secure a 119-107 win over the Los Angeles Clippers and level their Western Conference semi-final series.
The home side knew that victory at the Staples Center would have been enough to send them through to the conference finals, and they started well by opening up a nine-point lead in the first four minutes, but Terrence Jones and James Harden made sure that Houston were just two points back at the break.
The Clippers were on the charge again at the start of the third quarter as JJ Redick and Blake Griffin found the basket, before a string of shots from Chris Paul gave the hosts a 13-point lead heading into the final period.
Austin Rivers came off the bench in the fourth quarter as the Clippers looked to see out the win, keeping them 12 points ahead with less than eight minutes still to go.
However, the Rockets started to find their offensive rhythm late on, with Dwight Howard and Corey Brewer levelling the scores with less than five minutes remaining, while a run of shots from Josh Smith saw Houston surge ahead to take the win in the final moments.
The result means that the teams will play a winner-takes-all seventh game in Houston on Sunday.
Sian Cowper
