The last time they were in the NBA Finals was in 1975.

Exactly 40 years after, the Golden State Warriors are back in it again with a 104-90 drubbing of the Houston Rockets in Game 5 of their Western Conference Finals series on Wednesday at the Oracle Arena.

Reigning league MVP Stephen Curry led the way for the Warriors with 26 points, while starters Harrison Barnes and shooting guard Klay Thompson contributed 24 and 20 respectively. Second-year center Festus Ezeli scored 12 points off the bench to underscore Golden State's balanced offensive performance.

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The Warriors started shakily as they let Houston build a mini five-point lead after the first period, 17-22.

Golden State came back in the second quarter, starting the period with a scintillating 10-0 run that put them up by five, 27-22, courtesy of Thompson, who had three three-point bombs that quarter. The Warriors could not shake off the gritty Rockets as they led by only by six points at the half, 52-46.

The third quarter was virtually a standstill as both teams scored 22 points to enter the fourth period with Golden State leading, 74-68.

However, the Warriors launched a mind-numbing 15-6 attack in the final quarter, led by 9 straight points from Barnes, to blast off the Rockets for good, 89-74, with under seven minutes left in the game.

From there, Houston could not regain momentum as both teams exchanged baskets the rest of the way.

The Rockets were led by infamous center Dwight Howard who had 18 points and a monstrous 16 boards, but it was apparently not enough. MVP runner-up James Harden only had 14 markers on 2-of-11 shooting from the field and turned the ball over a game-high 13 times in 43 minutes of action.

Harden's worst game of the series could not come at a worst time as well. With their season on the line, the 6-foot-5 shooting guard could not duplicate the Rockets' feat in the previous round against the Clippers. It was really a disappointing finish for the man they call The Beard, saying that this is not how they wanted their season to end, as reported in the NBA's official website.

The NBA Finals will begin on June 4, Thursday next week, 9:00 p.m. E.T.

TagsNBA 2015, NBA Playoffs, NBA Playoffs 2015, Golden State Warriors, Stephen Curry, James Harden