Fred VanVleet scored 26 points, Amen Thompson added 25 and the host Houston Rockets avoided elimination with a 131-116 rout of the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of a first-round Western Conference playoff series Wednesday night.

Game 6 is Friday in San Francisco with the Warriors up 3-2.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr threw in the towel early in this one with the game out of hand. A layup by VanVleet midway through the third quarter made it 93-64, and Kerr called timeout and cleared his bench.

Houston coach Ime Udoka followed suit with about a minute to go in the third and his team up 105-76. He put all his starters back in with about eight minutes left after Golden State cut the lead to 109-92.

Moses Moodey scored 25 points off the bench for the Warriors. Steph Curry scored just 13 points and Jimmy Butler had eight points. The duo combined to shoot 6 of 22.

Haliburton upset about dad’s role in scuffle: Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton was so excited about Indiana’s improbable overtime rally that he didn’t realize what led to the postgame scuffle between his teammates and the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.

Then he got to the locker room, watched the replay and winced when he saw his father, John, on the court, confronting two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

“I had no idea it happened until I got back to the locker room and they showed me the video of my pops,” the two-time All-Star said after he made the decisive layup with 1.3 seconds left to give Indiana a 119-118 victory and a 4-1 series win. “We had a little talk about it. I don’t agree with what transpired there. I think basketball is basketball and let’s keep it on the court. I think he just got excited.”

Antetokounmpo wasn’t pleased, either, after his team blew a seven-point lead in the final 40 seconds of overtime, sending the Bucks to their third straight first-round exit. The two-time MVP didn’t recognize John Haliburton, thinking he was just another fan who had run onto the court.

Antetokounmpo said he likes Haliburton, calling him a great competitor, but he said John Haliburton displaying a towel with his son’s image while yelling “this is what we (expletive) do” was wrong.

“I feel like that’s very, very disrespectful,” said Antetokounmpo, who finished with 30 points, 20 rebounds and 13 assists.

Hawks’ Daniels voted most improved: Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels has been voted the NBA’s most improved player.

The 22-year-old Daniels beat out fellow finalists Cade Cunningham of Detroit and Ivica Zubac of the Clippers.