The NBA playoffs are in action tonight (Wednesday, May 8) with one of the hottest matchups in the league so far: It's the Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets in game 5 action. These Western Conference semifinals teams are tied up 2-2, with the Rockets winning two consecutive games to even the series behind the play of James Harden. The Warriors are at home tonight so they hope to regain their magic touch, particularly hoping guard Steph Curry regains his shooting. You can watch the Rockets vs. Warriors NBA playoffs tonight live streaming for free on fubotv if you haven't yet used a free trial. We've got that information below. Here's the information for watching and following the game. Game 5 Rockets vs. Warriors Date: Wednesday, May 8 Time: 10:30 p.m. ET Location: Oracle Arena -- Oakland, California TV channel: TNT Get Tonight's Score with Live stats here: GameTracker Online streaming: fuboTV (try it for free tonight with trial) Odds: Warriors -6 (Over/Under 220.5) Harden and the have won two straight games but they don't think they've played their best. That's why tonight's Game 5 action may be foretelling for how the series will go. In game four, Harden scored 38 points with his isolation style and they pulled out a 112-108 overtime win in the best-of-seven series. "When you're dealing with these guys, if you let Klay (Thompson) and Steph (Curry) run around and shoot 3s you don't have no chance," Harden said after the game, according to the AP. "The only chance we have is to be in to their bodies and make every shot that they take contested." From the AP on Game 4: The Rockets were up by nine before the Golden State scored the next seven points, capped by a 3 from Stephen Curry, to get within 110-108 with 19 seconds left. Harden made one of two free throws with 11.5 seconds left. Kevin Durant missed a 3 after that. But the Warriors got the rebound and Curry also missed a 3-point attempt before Golden State was forced to foul Chris Paul. "We got a couple of wide-open looks," Durant said. "They just didn't fall for us." Paul made one of two free throws with 2.9 seconds left to secure the victory. Golden State coach Steve Kerr was asked about the physical play of the Rockets, who have several players who are much stockier than his squad. "They've got a lot of middle linebackers on that team," he said. "They're sturdy and we're like volleyball players, long and lean ... everybody tries to be physical with us because they should. That's the best way to try to beat us."<doc-sep>The Warriors' 104-99 Game 5 win over the Rockets on Wednesday was a wild affair, turning into a nailbiter only after the home team squandered a hefty first-half lead. Golden State began the night by opening up a wide buffer, even with Steph Curry nowhere to be seen. MORE: Watch Rockets vs. Warriors Game 6 live on fuboTV (7-day free trial) The Rockets chipped away at the lead after halftime, although their run faded into the background after Kevin Durant limped off with a right calf strain. Oracle Arena was quiet and Houston eventually pulled into the lead. James Harden (31 points on 10-for-16 shooting) was instrumental in the comeback, although he didn't have the ball as much as needed late in the game. Curry (25 points, 9 for 23) recovered from his slump and nailed several huge shots down the stretch as the Warriors recovered. Klay Thompson (27 points, 11 for 20) was the Golden State catalyst, putting the finishing touches on the win with a straightaway triple and crafty layup after a broken possession. Sporting News tracked live scoring updates and highlights from Game 5 between the Warriors and Rockets. Rockets vs. Warriors: Live score, updates from Game 5 Final - Warriors 104, Rockets 99 Klay Thompson puts the finishing touches on the Warriors win with a crafty layup after a broken possession. That game was awesome. A broken play leads to the Klay dagger! 😮#StrengthInNumbers pic.twitter.com/CjJoXxZnPS — NBA TV (@NBATV) May 9, 2019 Fourth quarter, 0:52 - Warriors 101, Rockets 95 The Warriors are on the verge of sealing this win, even without Durant (calf strain) and Draymond Green (fouled out). 💪 K E V O N 💪 pic.twitter.com/PJgRizPDlN — Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 9, 2019 Fourth quarter, 2:45 - Warriors 97, Rockets 89 In the span of one minute, Draymond Green drew a charge on Chris Paul, gave up a technical foul for making contact with Paul after the call, and drained a triple. Klay Thompson stepped up later to bury another three, and Oracle erupted. Fourth quarter, 4:29 - Warriors 89, Rockets 88 This has turned into a seriously good game. Drop what you're doing and find a way to watch. Steph has finally found his range but Eric Gordon is matching him shot for shot. Steph Curry is up to 10 PTS in the 4th, 23 total!#StrengthInNumbers 89#RunAsOne 88 4:29 left on @NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/uVFdpbXzdN — NBA (@NBA) May 9, 2019 Fourth quarter, 10:01 - Warriors 75, Rockets 74 Warriors coach Steve Kerr has no update on Durant's injury. He seems as shell-shocked as the crowd. "I haven't heard anything yet. We've just got to play." Coach Kerr when asked about KD's injury#NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/zgOqcYvqNK — NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 9, 2019 End of third quarter - Warriors 72, Rockets 72 The NBA world is watching on in shock as it waits for news on Durant's potential injury. Kevin Durant's right hand man Rich Kleiman has been summoned back to the locker room. — Dieter Kurtenbach (@dkurtenbach) May 9, 2019 Praying for KD. Although I don’t think it’s what we think. Hopefully — Rudy Gay (@RudyGay) May 9, 2019 This series has gotten way too good for an injury to decide it. What terrible luck. Hopefully it’s not as bad as it looked. — Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) May 9, 2019 Third quarter, 0:34 - Warriors 72, Rockets 71 Oracle Arena is silent. Harden has found his stepback and the Rockets are surging. What was a blowout is now a nailbiter. Even worse, Kevin Durant limped off after a non-contact injury. The TNT commentators speculated Durant had injured his Achilles. Oracle Arena is silent. Kevin Durant limped off after potentially hurting his Achilles. pic.twitter.com/9fuAcl90rl — Sporting News (@sportingnews) May 9, 2019 Third quarter, 4:23 - Warriors 66, Rockets 59 The Warriors are collapsing - missed shots and lackluster defense are gifting the Rockets points. Third quarter - Warriors 60, Rockets 50 The Rockets have made a move to close the gap early in the third. Tuck for 3 to start the second-half. 💯 pic.twitter.com/kFpjtuKhYs — Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) May 9, 2019 Halftime - Warriors 57, Rockets 43 The trend of home teams winning in this series looks set to continue. Durant (20 points, 7-for-14 shooting) and Thompson (17 points, 7 for 13 from the field) are powering the Warriors offense. James Harden (14 points, 5-7 FG) is fighting valiantly, but he's the only Rockets player with more than six points. Second quarter, 3:05 - Warriors 57, Rockets 37 A James Harden burst trimmed the Warriors lead, but Golden State responded with a 17-0 run to blow the game wide open again. This sequence right here 🙌 pic.twitter.com/oVva4HtVjN — Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 9, 2019 Second quarter, 8:01 - Warriors 40, Rockets 30 Steph Curry has taken just three shots and missed all of them, but the Warriors are still up ten. This team is ridiculous. End of first quarter - Warriors 31, Rockets 17 Kevin Durant makes this whole 'dominating at basketball' thing look incredibly easy. First quarter, 4:41 - Warriors 22, Rockets 14 Klay Thompson is blazing hot to open the game. He's up to 12 points while shooting 5-of-7 and has hit both of his triple attempts. First quarter, 9:55 - Rockets 5, Warriors 4 Andre Iguodala is dealing with a knee injury, but the 35-year-old can still get up. Pregame Steph Curry is getting reps in to avoid another "blocked-by-rim" dunking incident.<doc-sep>Late in Game 4, Andre Iguodala suffered a left knee injury after James Harden missed a free throw in the final seconds of regulation. It seemed like an innocuous play, at first. But, upon further review, Rockets guard and irritant Chris Paul seems to run into Iguodala’s knee on purpose. Iguodala and Paul played huge roles in last year’s Western Conference Finals as both missed games due to injury. Iguodala suffered a left leg injury in Game 3 and Paul suffered a hamstring injury in Game 5. There has been lots of speculation that if the Warriors had a healthy Iguodala for the duration of the Western Conference Finals, they would have won it in five games. On the other side, the Rockets believe they would have won that series in seven if Paul had been available. Here is the play when Andre Iguodala tweaked his left knee pic.twitter.com/mbjYqBhHZw — Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) May 7, 2019 Both players are valuable to their teams, which makes this potential Iguodala injury scary for the Warriors. But Warriors’ fans should not be alarmed because it has been reported by Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports that Iguodala promised Steve Kerr he would be fine for Game 5. Iguodala has been the primary defender on Harden, so losing him for any amount of time would be devastating for Golden State. Other than Game 4, Iguodala has played great basketball, averaging over 13 points, five rebounds and dishing out three assists per game, all while starting each game. If, for whatever reason, Iguodala cannot play Wednesday night, the Warriors will be searching for someone to guard Harden. The most likely candidate would Klay Thompson because he plays much better on-the-ball defense as opposed to tracking guys coming off screens and cutting backdoor. Thompson has had that task throughout the series, mostly matching up with Eric Gordon, who has beat him on a few backdoor plays. Thompson struggles with cutters and, while Harden has had success against Thompson, putting him on Harden might be a better matchup for the Warriors. Thompson just has to be careful of Harden’s landing space on his step-back threes, and he must force Harden to his help defense when driving the lane. He knows what Harden is going to do and, other than Iguodala, Thompson is the Warriors’ best perimeter defender. Either way, the Warriors have a series now. And whoever is guarding Harden must do a decent job if they want to win this series and advance to the Western Conference Finals. Hopefully, Iguodala will be healthy for Wednesday and makes good on his promise. But if he is unable to suit up, the Warriors have a viable option to replace him.<doc-sep>HOUSTON – Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala was in the process of choosing his postgame meal among an expansive spread that featured seafood, steak and other fine foods near the entrance of the locker room. While hovering over the buffet, coach Steve Kerr joined him in surveying the options and asked the 2015 Finals MVP how he was feeling. Iguodala bent down, briefly massaged his left knee and said it was a little sore, but he promised his coach that he would be fine for Game 5 on Wednesday. The injury is believed to be minor, but the incident that led to it is being viewed quite differently. Members of the Warriors told Yahoo Sports that they believed it was “a dirty play” by Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul. In the fourth quarter, Iguodala had Paul sealed on his back while boxing out to gather a defensive rebound during the Rockets’ 112-108 win Monday that evened the West semifinals at two games apiece. When Iguodala elevated to secure the board, Paul moved into the forward when he was in midair and ended up clipping the back of Iguodala’s left knee. A foul was called on Paul, and Iguodala immediately started hobbling and reaching for his knee. As the series shifts to the Bay Area, tensions are elevating. Paul has been successful at agitating the Warriors, who have failed over the past two games to maintain focus. Chris Paul did Chris Paul things to the Warriors on Monday night in Game 4. (Getty Images) There were many physical incidents that took place at the Toyota Center that had the potential to escalate if tempers erupted. And Paul was involved in most of them. Paul and Kevin Durant were bickering for much of the contest, and late in the fourth quarter, the two mixed it up a bit. In another box-out situation, Paul moderately shoved Durant to place himself in better position to secure the defensive board. Durant took exception to the nudge and followed it up by slinging Paul to the hardwood and standing over him. Paul scooted back, hopped up and began clapping his hands in delight at getting underneath Durant’s skin. Durant was hit with a personal foul, and he was clearly irritated as he had words for the Rockets’ point guard en route to the other end of the court. Story continues And prior to that altercation, Durant elbowed Paul in the mouth as he swung his left arm around wildly after jumping for a potential offensive rebound. Paul was standing behind Durant on the play and caught what appeared to be an inadvertent elbow before plunging to the floor. There was no whistle on the play. “The way both teams are playing with such aggression and intensity, it’s fun to be out there,” Durant said after scoring a team-high 34 points with seven rebounds and five assists. “We’re looking forward to Game 5.” But that wasn’t the end of the Paul-related altercations. In the third quarter, he got into it with Draymond Green. Klay Thompson penetrated and found Green alone under the basket, but Paul rotated over and fouled Green from behind, sending the forward to the floor. And while Green was on his back, Paul stared him down and took a step in his direction, resulting in Green quickly bouncing up and shoving Paul in his back. Paul didn’t react, and there was no repercussion. There was also a third-quarter incident that didn’t involve Paul, as Green was clocked on the side of his head by James Harden. The Rockets star nailed his patented step-back triple over Green, but awkwardly swung his shooting hand to the left and nailed Green on the left side of his head. The forward collapsed to the ground holding his head. There was no call on the play. “I told y’all before, I get fouled on James Harden 3-pointers,” Green said after the game. “Y’all thought I was lying. People think I just be making sh-- up.” Lastly, in the opening quarter, Harden was accidentally elbowed on the top of the head by Durant. The reigning MVP drove to the basket in transition and eluded Thompson, but Durant came from the weak side and blocked his shot. On the follow-through, Durant’s elbow grazed Harden’s head and the guard fell to the hardwood, grimacing in pain. Durant was in pain, as well, as he held his elbow. There was no call on the play. “Very physical [game],” said Eric Gordon, who scored 20 points for the Rockets. “… I just like our intensity. It’s an intense game.” The Rockets’ P.J. Tucker has feasted on the offensive glass at home in this series, especially in the fourth quarter, when the Warriors desperately needed a rebound to complete a defensive stop. “I just feel like nobody can box me out,” Tucker told Yahoo Sports after posting 17 points, 10 rebounds (five offensive) and two steals. “That’s something I’ve been doing all my life. I’ve always ate off the boards. It’s something nobody likes to do. People don’t like boxing out, man. It’s tough. It’s hard to box somebody out. I’ve always been a pretty good rebounder, but when I get guards on me, I don’t think they can box me out. It’s just going and getting it. Those are winning plays. Extra possessions might win the game.” The Warriors have been outrebounded 105-78 in the past two games, a sign of wavering focus and physicality. “I think it’s just a mindset,” Green said. “I think we’re kind of going to a fight, and we think it’s a fair fight, but it’s not. They’re doing whatever it takes to win and not that they’re doing anything dirty or nothing like that, but they’re doing whatever it takes to win, and we’re just kind of rolling in there, and they’re slamming us.” It’s Harden, Paul and Tucker playing their roles to the fullest. And it’s why the defending champs are now on their heels. Just last week it looked as if the Warriors were on their way to cruising to the conference finals.<doc-sep>
HOUSTON -- Middle linebackers vs. volleyball players. That's how Steve Kerr described Houston Rockets-Golden State Warriors games. It was an unexpected but quite effective comparison: a bruising team that looks for contact and spends lots of time on the floor against a long, lean squad that uses teamwork and finesse to build toward power spikes. Call it whatever you want, but this Western Conference semifinal turned into a terrific series during the two games in Houston, the type of matchup the league and its fans had been anticipating for a year. The over-the-top complaining about the officiating has gone away after the Warriors' two victories in Oakland, at least for now. James Harden's vision has cleared up, and his game has roared back to its MVP level. Kevin Durant is still playing terrifically, and his back-and-forth with Harden is maturing toward historic duel territory. The pressure on Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson is ramping up. The entire basketball world is gaining a new appreciation for PJ Tucker. Simply, you can feel the intensity building with each skin-tight game. The level of shot-making, execution and gamesmanship is the bedrock of the current popularity of the league. With the Rockets' 112-108 victory on Monday in Game 4, which followed their gritty Game 3 overtime win, it's now 2-2, and this has another seven-game series written all over it. And the combatants are totally into it. "We love it," Curry said. "This is fun," Chris Paul said. "I love this, I do," Kerr said. "It's the playoffs," Thompson said. The edge you'd expect with this situation -- this is the fourth postseason meeting in five seasons, and there has been consequence to every game these teams have played over the past two years -- is roaring to life. Draymond Green and Paul have been in each other's faces. Durant and Paul have been in each other's faces. Durant even had words with Harden's mother in her courtside seat during Monday's game. The bruises are piling up. Green has poked Harden in the eye. Durant has elbowed Harden in the head. Harden has nailed Green in the head. A bunch of other guys have gone down, many of them on flops, but some have surely been legitimate. Everyone is sore. The fatigue is starting to take hold. It's an unfolding classic. For a second straight game, Durant and Harden battled in a tremendous shot-for-shot slugfest. After Harden answered Durant's 46 points with 41 of his own Saturday night, they were pouring in shots on top of each other Monday too -- as Harden scored 20 of his 38 in the second half, with Durant scoring 22 of his 34. The slump that was weighing Harden down early in the series has vanished as his floater game has returned, giving him the inside-out action that is the basis for his offensive greatness. He had been 8-of-29 on floaters through his first seven playoff games, but he is 5-of-9 over the past two, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Meanwhile, the coaches are locked in a tactical battle. Kerr caught Mike D'Antoni off guard in Game 1 when he put Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup for the first time all season, moving Green to center. D'Antoni has countered, rolling out lineups with Tucker at center that have even more shooting than the Warriors' lineups, believe it or not. The Warriors have claimed success by largely defanging Clint Capela. But the Rockets have hit back with their shooters; they have a breathtaking 26 more 3-pointers in the series than Golden State. They made nine more 3-pointers than the Warriors on Monday, the second-worst 3-point differential for Golden State in its postseason history. Eric Gordon already has made 16 3-pointers in the series and is averaging 23 points a game. Tucker and Austin Rivers have combined to make 14 3-pointers and are shooting 48 percent collectively on them. Meanwhile, Thompson is just 8-of-26, and Curry already has missed 34 treys, the most in a four-game span in his playoff career. "It's intense and every possession matters," said Paul, who had 13 points in Game 4. "If you love to hoop, then you want that challenge to try to stop some of the best players to ever play." The moods of the teams are so telling. Both are absolutely convinced they're going to win. Harden, his eye still red and a bump on his head, practically floated out of the building he was so energized by his play.