Champions Golden State face elimination from the NBA playoffs, after falling 98-94 on the road to the Houston Rockets in Game Five of their Western Conference finals series.
Houston now lead the series 3-2 and can oust the Warriors with victory at Oakland on Monday, but they will be sweating on an apparent hamstring injury that forced point guard Chris Paul off the floor for the final seconds of this encounter.
Reserve guard Eric Gordon came off the bench for 24 points to lead the Rockets, with Paul (20 points), James Harden (19 points) and centre Clint Capela (12 points/14 rebounds) other key contributors.
Forward Kevin Durant lead all scorers with 29 points, including 10-10 from the free-throw line, assisted by Klay Thompson (23 points), Steph Curry (22 points) and Draymond Green (12 points/15 rebounds).
Houston led for all but a few seconds of the first half, stretching that advantage as far as 11 points early in the second quarter.
But Green shot one of two free-throw attempts to send Golden State into the locker room on even terms (45-45) at halftime and after the restart, the contest remained even, until the Rockets edged ahead early in the fourth period.
Harden stole Green's pass and made a dunk to give Houston a six-point buffer with less than six minutes remaining. Green tipped home an offensive rebound to draw within a point with 1m 42s left, but Gordon's three-pointer 20 seconds later proved to be the game winner.
With three seconds on the clock and trailling by two points, Green could not gather an outlet pass and turned the ball over, squandering the Warriors' final chance of victory.
Neither team shot particularly well - Houston were just 37 percent from the field, but their 27-32 free throw return was significant.
"We had to rely on our defence once again," said Harden. "Game Four, we weren't making shots, but defensively we were really good - same thing tonight."
The Rockets took home advantage into this best-of-seven series, after recording a league-best 65-17 record through the regular season, and now have two chances - including a potential home decider - to win this series and advance to the NBA Finals.
Newshub.