Rockets to face Warriors in conference final

Houston Rockets’ All-Star guard Chris Paul has bombed the Utah Jazz out of the NBA playoffs.

The Rockets, led by Paul’s 41 points including eight threepointers, beat the Jazz 112-102 in Houston yesterday to take the semifinal series 4-1 and move on to a much-anticipated matchup with the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals.

The reigning NBA champion Warriors cruised to a 113-104 win over the New Orleans Pelicans to also take their series 4-1.

Australian forward Joe Ingles said his Jazz were unable to match the Rockets’ firepower. ‘‘They are a great team and have a lot of weapons,’’ Ingles said.

The Jazz were hoping Ingles would go on a point-scoring spree, but the Australian missed four of his six three-point attempts for 12 points.

The Jazz appeared poised to upset the Rockets and extend the series when they took a five point lead early in the fourth quarter, but Paul refused to let it happen.

‘‘Whatever it took to win,’’ Paul said.

Paul endured 12 tortured seasons with the New Orleans Hornets and Los Angeles Clippers where he failed to make the conference finals and has carried the stigma of not being able to take his team deep into the playoffs.

The 33-year-old fled to the Rockets in the off-season, gelled with the team’s leader James Harden and they stormed through the regular season with an NBA best record of 65 wins and 17 losses.

Paul had 20 of his 41 points in the final quarter to extinguish the Jazz. He hit eight of his 10 threepoint attempts for the game.

The Warriors earned their fourth straight Western Conference finals berth by eliminating the Pelicans.

Game one of the best-of-seven series against the Rockets will be played in Houston on Tuesday (NZT).