The Golden State Warriors can officially move on to the Western Conference Finals for a fifth straight year. Only the Houston Rockets and an injury to Kevin Durant stand in their way.

Game 6 of the second-round series between the Warriors and Rockets is set for Friday night at 9 p.m. EDT. ESPN will broadcast the potential clincher on TV. A live stream will be available with WatchESPN.

Houston is expected to force a deciding Game 7. They’ll be at home, where they won two straight games against Golden State earlier this series. The Rockets are the healthy team this year, making them 7.5-point betting favorites over the visiting Warriors, according to OddsShark.

Durant will miss the rest of the series with a mild calf strain. Golden State’s other stars stepped up in Durant’s absence in Game 5, despite having struggled for the majority of the series.

Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combined to score 52 points in Wednesday’s victory. The Splash Brothers are only averaging a combined 39.6 points per game on close to 40 percent shooting against Houston.

The star guards carried the Warriors for a little over a quarter in Game 5. Doing so for the entirety of Game 6 will be difficult, considering Golden State’s lack of depth. Durant leads the defending champs with 212 playoff minutes.

James Harden has performed much better at home. The reigning MVP scored 41 points in Game 3 and 38 points in Game 4 at Toyota Center before disappearing in the fourth quarter of Game 5 at Oracle Arena.

The Warriors have eliminated the Rockets from three of the last four postseasons.

harden
James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets celebrates the 114-110 over the New York Knicks at the end of the game at Madison Square Garden on January 23, 2019 in New York City. Sarah Stier/Getty Images
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