So they avoided a sweep. Now what?
In our preview of Game 4, we said the Rockets were playing for pride. Well, they showed a hell of a lot of it, coming out as hot as the core of the sun in with a 45-point first quarter, which lasted them until James Harden got cooking and dominated the fourth quarter. He had 45 points total, a new career playoff high (I'm beginning to think 45 might be these Rocket's lucky number), and the Rockets won 128-115 to send their fans home happy. Well, eventually.
The bad news about that game: Even with the Rockets shooting 8-9 from three for a quarter and Josh Smith shooting 7-8 from the floor for the game, the Rockets still needed James Harden to bail them out when the Warriors got close in the fourth quarter.