Fred VanVleet scored 14 of his game-high 26 points in a runaway first quarter as the Houston Rockets surged to a 131-116 victory over the visiting Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of a Western Conference first-round playoff series on Wednesday.

The Golden State Warriors produced a determined effort to outlast the Houston Rockets in Game 3 of this Western Conference first-round series without Jimmy Butler on Saturday, with the reward for their perseverance manifesting in Butler carrying Golden State down the stretch and through the finish line in Game 4 on Monday.