The biggest difference between [the 2014-15 Rockets] and this year's version, which beat Golden State on Thursday night to pull within one game of an NBA Finals berth, is the presence of Chris Paul, one of the greatest point guards of all-time and still a force at age 33. Unfortunately, for as good as he was in the first half, he was shut down in the second, but so were all the Rockets not named James Harden. The Rockets' 50-point third quarter Game 4 of their first-round series with the Minnesota Timberwolves bested the 1987 Lakers.

The Warriors trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half Saturday night before using a splendid second half to roll to a 115-86 victory. They were hitting three's, and the Golden State Warriors couldn't seem to hit anything. Oh, and the typically subdued Thompson let his emotions flow for all to see: He flexed his biceps Draymond Green style, pumped his arms like Kevin Durant and yelled out the way Stephen Curry often does at Oracle Arena.

Thompson insisted the Warriors remain equally focused, adding: "If we take the same focus and execute the game plan like we should, I have all the confidence in the world in this team".

And quite frankly, if Golden State can't, at the very least, win Game 6 on their home floor with Paul sidelined, they don't deserve to be in the conversation for being the best team in National Basketball Association history.

"Yeah, we've been trying to get back to being us all series", Kerr said. Paul missed the Rockets' Game 6 loss after suffering a hamstring injury late in their Game 5 win over the Warriors.

"We did a better job moving the ball tonight, for sure", Golden State coach Steve Kerr said.

"No, I truly felt something coming", Kerr said. Houston committed four quick turnovers. "We're a confident group, and we've just got one chance".

Saturday night's game takes place on the Warriors' home court, where they have only lost once in their last 17 playoff games.

The teams meet one final time in Houston on Tuesday (NZ time), with the victor advancing to the NBA Finals to face either the Boston Celtics or Cleveland Cavaliers, who play their Game 7 in Boston on Monday. "It's a bone bruise, there's not sort of a timetable, it's more just up to the individual and how he's feeling, and we don't really know".

Here are three things to keep an eye on in this game.

"I don't want to go home", said Thompson, who made 9 triples.

By getting Golden State to the NBA Finals, and helping them win back-to-back games for the first time in this series against a gifted Rockets' team, those doubts can be erased.