HOUSTON -- Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry scored all 33 of his points in the second half, including 23 in the fourth quarter, to propel the Warriors to a series-clinching 118-113 Game 6 win over the Houston Rockets on Friday night.

After shooting 0-for-5 from the field in the first half and failing to register a point in the first 24 minutes of a postseason game for the first time in his career, Curry responded with one of the most prolific second-half performances in his storied career.

"That's what Steph does," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "I actually told his mom and dad after the game, I said, 'If that game didn't personify Steph Curry, I don't know what did.' He's a guy who can make some plays that leave you scratching your head -- the fouls, some of the turnovers, not tonight, but sometimes he just makes plays and you kinda look around and think, 'What is he doing?' But most of the time, he makes these incredible plays, and he's just fearless. And that's what makes him who he is."

Curry, who struggled at various points throughout the series to find a rhythm against a tough Rockets defense, was given a huge ovation by his teammates after walking into the Warriors' locker room after the game.

"It did not surprise me one bit," Warriors swingman Klay Thompson said of Curry's performance. "The man is a competitor, a champion, and on top of all that he just plays with such great heart. He's our leader. His composure is unbelievable, as well."

As the Warriors continued celebrating long after Game 6 was over, even Curry couldn't help but smile when asked to describe how poorly he played in the first half of the game.

"That's a great question," Curry said. "I was pretty terrible. I just didn't make a shot, fouling. I think the only thing I did well was not turn the ball over for the 12 minutes I was out there on the floor. So I find a positive in everything."

Curry's performance was even more crucial than usual, given that Warriors star forward Kevin Durant was back in the Bay Area, unable to travel because of a calf injury suffered in Game 5.

With the win, the Warriors will host the winner of the Portland Trail Blazers-Denver Nuggets series in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday night at Oracle Arena. They'll do so with the expectation that Durant, who will be reevaluated in a week, will be able to return at some point during the series.

Curry and his teammates know they'll need Durant healthy to win the NBA championship for the third straight year, but they enjoyed the fact that they were an underdog heading into Game 6.

"We had an opportunity to -- it's kind of weird to say -- prove a lot of people wrong knowing what we accomplished," Curry said. "But it's a lot of talking in the last 24, 48 hours about what we should and should not do in this series with KD out. I talked about it a lot, K has been unbelievable in this playoff run. We don't get to a Game 6 opportunity to close it out without him playing unbelievable and spectacular basketball and carrying us the first 11 games.

"The least we can do is come in here and get a win. Get some rest before the Western Conference finals and give him the chance to get healthy and go chase another championship. It's special. I know he's back at home celebrating and can't wait to get back and prepare for the next series."

All the chatter surrounding his game and his struggles at times during this series clearly motivated Curry, who suffered a dislocated left middle finger in Game 2 and went just 7-for-23 in Game 3 and 9-for-23 in Game 5. He said he understood that people were questioning his game, and he took it upon himself to carry the Warriors down the stretch even though his finger was still clearly bothering him.

After hearing that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade had chided Curry's critics on their Twitter accounts after his Game 6 heroics, Curry said, "I've heard a lot of noise this series, for sure. I'll just leave it at that. Whether it's positive, negative, whatever the case is -- I know what I'm capable of. It's bigger than me, so I just don't get caught up in that.

"I don't need any extra motivation. I don't need to hear who I am as a player; I know that. And so my confidence never wavers in those type of moments. I obviously appreciate those words, and champions recognize champions and what it takes to win games like tonight and do what we've been able to do these last five years. So hopefully more of that to come."

HOUSTON -- It wasn't a championship celebration. But it was close.

As each player made his way into the Golden State Warriors' locker room after their Game 6 118-113 elimination win over the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference semifinals Friday, there were waves of yells, applause and backslapping. Eleven of them had played and nine of them had scored. Each had a moment to be appreciated.

"Great rebound." "Awesome getting that loose ball." "Huge putback."

As each man entered the room, he turned and waited for the next, creating a huddle at the end of a tunnel of coaches, staff members and support personnel. The so-called "core four" came last, like a wedding party entering a rocking reception.

First Andre Iguodala and then Draymond Green, grabbing each other and hugging tightly. Then Klay Thompson, who barked with joy in rare form from the stoic star. Finally, Stephen Curry, his left hand throbbing from the reaggravation of a left finger injury, a 4-year-old pair of shoes on his feet, and a wide smile spread across his face after one of the most bizarre and wonderful nights of his career.

"This was one of the best wins we've had in my nine years as owner," said Warriors owner Joe Lacob, who has raised three championship trophies.

To understand this feeling requires some nuance. The Warriors were basking in this victory because they'd beaten their rival on the rival's home floor, sending the Rockets into a miserable offseason for a second year in a row and fourth time in five years.

And because the Warriors had done it without Kevin Durant, who was back in the Bay Area receiving treatment on a calf injury that was supposed to have been a game-changing moment in this series. It turned out to be -- just not in the way it first seemed.

It was Winston Churchill who advised never to let a good crisis go to waste. From the huddle the Warriors' players formed Wednesday night when Durant limped up the tunnel, that's exactly what they did. Instead of pouting or crumbling, the Warriors these past few days created a complex moment composed of nostalgia, vindication and appreciation.

It was not sinister. Durant was there both spiritually and virtually. His uniform hung at his traditional locker in the Toyota Center. People were texting him, sending him photos and FaceTiming him.

But without Durant actually playing, the accomplishment magnified. The Warriors hadn't won a series without Durant in three years. They haven't won a title without him since 2015, the version of shoes that Curry took out of storage in a move that was part motivation and part symbolism.

"I wanted to lean into it," Curry said of the shoe choice, a nod to the widespread expectation for him to return to a pre-Durant version of himself.

Those within the locker room will tell you this has been the hardest season of Golden State's five-year run at the top. The combination of mental fatigue, uncertainty and tension drained the fun out of this journey. Maybe some of the players will write about it in their memoirs or, in the modern-day spirit, talk about it in the documentaries their personal media companies produce.

Naturally, the Warriors have allowed themselves to think of a world without Durant next season after he hits free agency. After the pleasantries and talk of families are exhausted, Durant's future has been a leading item of gossip in every corner of the NBA for months now. And it will be into the future.

The Warriors know he's a vital piece of their championship makeup and they badly want him to stay. But, of course, they believe -- especially those core four -- that they can still hunt without him. They all have egos. They've all learned to suppress them for the good of the whole.

But that 2015 title ring remains the most special. You never forget your first.

For this win to come the way it did:

• Iguodala crushed Houston's defensive strategy by nailing five 3-pointers.

• Green approached another triple-double.

• Thompson exploded for a huge 21-point first half.

• Curry had one of the finest 10-minute stretches in his career with 23 fourth-quarter points to close it out.

It all rekindled that old "strength in numbers" flame.

Combined with the Game 5 win when the Warriors overcame Durant's injury thanks to late-game Curry heroics, well, let's just say coach Steve Kerr's postgame moniker of "f---ing giants" was heard throughout the locker room.

As was Chris Paul's name, surrounded by curse words. The Warriors dearly loved this win and they always love beating Paul.

"I'm damn proud of our team, for sure," Curry said. "It's huge."

The coming together despite being depleted -- it's easy to forget Golden State is also down center DeMarcus Cousins, who was expected to be a factor in this series when he joined the team -- only amplified the wound it inflicted on the Rockets.

It wasn't that the Rockets played poorly in losing this series 4-2 -- James Harden scored a game-high 35 points despite missing 10 of his first 15 shots, and Paul had his best game of the series with 27 points and six assists. Rather, it was that given an opportunity, the Rockets couldn't play great as a team. There's a chance that shortcoming will gnaw at them for a long time. Combined with last season's miss, it's got the potential to be damaging long term.

When presented the same opportunity, the Warriors did play great, especially in that charmed final quarter in which Curry drilled three 3-pointers and their defense held Houston scoreless for a stretch of nearly four minutes.

"This one is going to leave a mark," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said.

Fittingly, that's exactly what the Warriors were trying to do.

NEW YORK -- Back home from a frustrating road trip, the New York Mets immediately busted out of their offensive funk against the worst team in the majors.

Amed Rosario hit a grand slam during an eight-run outburst that marked the Mets' biggest first inning in three decades, and New York rolled to an 11-2 rout of the Miami Marlins on Friday night.

"It was great. It was a lot of fun to kind of break out as a team," Michael Conforto said. "It's something we've been waiting for."

Conforto and Jeff McNeil also homered for the previously slumping Mets, who set a season best with 15 hits and matched their high for runs. Zack Wheeler (3-2) struck out 11 over seven innings, reaching double digits for the third time in four outings.

Earlier in the day, manager Mickey Callaway met with Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon and general manager Brodie Van Wagenen.

"This meeting had a different focus. This meeting was about, how can we be better? How can we get going in the right direction?" Callaway said. "None of us are satisfied with what's been going on to this point.

"We talked about a lot and we understand that things have to be better."

Right off the bat, they were.

After totaling only 15 runs during a 1-5 trip to Milwaukee and San Diego, the Mets broke loose against Pablo Lopez (2-5) and the Marlins (10-28). New York sent 13 batters to the plate in the first, with J.D. Davis and Robinson Cano each getting two of the team's eight hits.

The first run scored on Lopez's wild pitch. Slow-footed Wilson Ramos legged out a dribbler up the third-base line for an RBI single, and Brandon Nimmo drew a bases-loaded walk.

Rosario, batting eighth, sent the next pitch just over the right-center fence for his first major league slam -- instantly giving him a career-high four RBIs.

Wheeler struck out, making him the first batter retired by Lopez. But when Cano added a two-out RBI single, the Mets (18-20) had their largest first inning since they also scored eight times at Philadelphia on June 16, 1989.

"You don't see that type of inning very often," Callaway said. "I think everybody took a deep breath after that. Like, OK, we can still score runs."

The inning could have been even worse for Lopez, too, if right fielder Brian Anderson hadn't wheeled around to make a spectacular throw that nabbed McNeil trying to go first to third on Davis' single for the first out.

McNeil led off with a bunt single, diving into first to evade a tag, and reached safely four times. Conforto was 3-for-3 with three runs and reached safely all five times up. Davis finished with three hits.

"Now is as good a time as any time to start making our move," Conforto said. "We're going to put it all together here very soon."

Conforto homered into the right-field upper deck leading off the second. McNeil connected in the third against the 23-year-old Lopez, who was coming off six shutout innings against Atlanta and had not allowed an earned run in two of his previous three starts.

"Didn't look like he had life on his fastball. Didn't look like he was locating very well. Things got snowballing and usually that's tough," Miami manager Don Mattingly said. "So, it was one of those nights."

Lopez, who beat Mets ace Jacob deGrom 5-2 in his major league debut June 30 last year, gave up 10 runs and 10 hits over three innings, easily the worst of his 18 career starts.

"Everything happened very quick. I kept falling behind," Lopez said. "You can only get better after this."

BEEN A WHILE

The Mets scored more runs in the first inning than they had during an entire game since a 9-0 win over the Phillies on April 23. New York mustered only 16 runs over its previous eight games -- one of which went 18 innings.

The only other time in franchise history they hung a snowman in the first at home was July 12, 1979, against the Dodgers. The club record is nine first-inning runs at San Francisco in August 1988.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Marlins: 1B-OF Garrett Cooper (bruised left hand) is moving from Class A Jupiter to Triple-A New Orleans on his rehab assignment. ... RHP Julian Fernandez (Tommy John surgery) is scheduled to throw 20 pitches of live batting practice Saturday.

Mets: The team decided against activating veteran infielder Jed Lowrie from the injured list Friday, as originally anticipated. Lowrie got hurt early in spring training and has been sidelined all season because of a capsule sprain in his left knee. He was 1-for-7 with Class A St. Lucie and 1-for-16 at Triple-A Syracuse during the first six games of his rehab assignment. Callaway said the Mets planned to re-evaluate Saturday. Lowrie went 3-for-4 with a home run and a walk Friday night for Syracuse. He played nine innings at third base. ... LHP Steven Matz is slated to throw a bullpen Saturday, an important step after he received an injection of cortisone and lidocaine for his aching left forearm early this week. Matz was placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday, retroactive to May 5, with radial nerve discomfort, and the Mets hope he can return to the rotation next week.

UP NEXT

Marlins: Sandy Alcantara (1-3, 4.93 ERA) pitches Saturday night, his fourth assignment against the Mets in 14 major league starts. The 23-year-old right-hander is 0-3 in his last five outings overall.

Mets: National League Cy Young Award winner deGrom (2-4, 3.60 ERA) has lost four straight decisions, and New York hasn't scored in either of his past two games. In his second outing this season, deGrom struck out a career-high 14 over seven shutout innings at Miami. Still, he is just 5-6 with a 3.36 ERA in 17 starts against the Marlins.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Kevin Harvick got his quest to reach victory lane at one of his favorite tracks off to a fast start Friday evening by capturing the Busch Pole Award for the Digital Ally 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Harvick, a three-time Kansas winner, led a Stewart-Haas Racing sweep of the top four starting spots with a lap of 30.131 seconds (179.217 mph) around the 1.5-mile oval in his No. 4 Busch Beer Ford Mustang.

It marked the second time in team history that Stewart-Haas cars have locked out the first two rows of the starting grid, following a similar occurrence at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in October of 2018.

Friday’s qualifying effort marked Harvick’s record-extending fifth pole at Kansas, third of the season and the 28th of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career.

Harvick has sat on the front row in his last four Kansas Cup races, but admits he wants to erase his goose egg in the wins column with a victory on Saturday night under the lights.

“The car definitely told me it was fast on that run,” noted Harvick. “I really want to start off by thanking everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing and Roush-Yates Engines because the mile-and-a-half tracks have really been a handful for us, as we’ve gone through the beginning of the season … from new cars and different engines to different headers and body builds. They’ve done a great job, though. Everyone knew we were a little bit behind, but we saw some light at Texas and that’s carried over to here today.

“Our Busch Beer Ford is really fast and drives well in traffic, so hopefully when we get to the race tomorrow we can have another good night here at Kansas and finally get that monkey off our back this year,” Harvick added. “Poles are nice, but wins are what we really want here.”

Aric Almirola will join his Stewart-Haas teammate on the front row after turning a lap of 30.214 seconds (178.725 mph) with the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang during his qualifying run.

Though it was his fourth front-row start of the season, Almirola wasn’t satisfied with starting second to his teammate after climbing from his race car.

“Four front row starts is a positive, but when you show up here on qualifying day, you want to be first,” Almirola said. “Wow, though. We’ve felt like we’ve been a little bit behind and playing catch up at Stewart-Haas Racing, so I’m really proud of the effort by everyone at the shop and it’s paying off, as everyone can see today.

“I felt like our car was good in practice. Kevin was first on average, and I was second. Now he’s first in qualifying, and I’m second again,” he continued. “I’m tired of being second to him. Hopefully we can change that tomorrow night.”

The remaining Stewart-Haas Fords of Clint Bowyer and Daniel Suarez will line up on the second row in third and fourth, respectively, with Chase Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 completing the top five.

Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest Toyota driver in sixth, followed by William Byron, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski and Alex Bowman.

Notable drivers starting deeper in the field include Bubba Wallace (12th), Kyle Busch (13th), three-time Kansas winner and seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson (18th) and defending Cup Series titlist Joey Logano (20th).

To view complete qualifying results, advance to the next page.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Mike Mittler, a veteran team owner in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, has died after a battle with cancer. He was 67 years old.

Mittler and his MB Motorsports team served as starting point for many of NASCAR’s biggest stars. Among those who have driven for Mittler included Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski and Jamie McMurray.

Despite 301 starts as an owner in the Truck Series, Mittler never found victory lane. He came close in 2015 at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway as dirt late model driver Bobby Pierce nearly put the team in victory lane with a runner-up finish. Pierce won two-straight poles at Eldora in Mittler’s No. 63 truck.

Besides owning a team in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, Mittler also owned Mittler Brothers, a metal working tools and metal fabrication equipment business.

“It is with heavy heart that we say goodbye to Mike Mittler,” said Curtis Francois, owner and CEO of World Wide Technology Raceway. “In the earliest days of my ownership of Gateway, Mike was there, offering to help however he could. He was selfless, loyal, honest and as fine of a man as I’ve ever met. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. I will miss him; the racetrack will miss him – but our lives are all the better for knowing him.”