HOUSTON -- Houston Rockets guard James Harden rediscovered the marvelous form that resulted in a pair of near misses in Games 1 and 2, but Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry overshadowed Harden with a terrifying fall that threatened to turn the Western Conference finals upside down.

Harden scored 33 of his game-high 45 points on 10-for-15 shooting in the second half as the Rockets staved off several furious runs by the Warriors and averted a series sweep with a 128-115 victory in Game 4 on Monday night at Toyota Center.

The Warriors, who will host Game 5 in Oakland on Wednesday night, clawed back from a 25-point deficit and trailed 104-98 when Curry drilled a pull-up 3-pointer with 8:24 remaining. Curry missed roughly one quarter of action after suffering a head contusion following a nasty fall midway through the second quarter, but after passing a concussion protocol and returning in the third, Curry could not offset Harden.

"I remember everything about it," Curry said of his tumble. "I feel pretty good, just not how I envisioned the game going. I'm disappointed we lost, but all in all, thankful that I came out of that relatively OK and was able to go back in there and try to give my team something."

Harden scored seven consecutive points as Houston ultimately rebuilt its lead to 114-98. His alley-oop pass to center Dwight Howard with 5:01 left to play capped that decisive run and put a bow on a blistering offensive effort for Houston, which mustered only 80 points in Game 3.

All five Houston starters scored in double figures, with forwards Josh Smith posting 13 of his 20 points in the runaway first quarter while Trevor Ariza added 17. Smith and Ariza shot a combined 6 of 11 from behind the arc as Houston hit 17 of 32 3-pointers and led wire-to-wire.

Harden, who missed 13 of 16 shots in the Rockets' 35-point defeat two nights earlier, shot 13 of 22 from the floor, including 7-for-11 on 3s, en route to a career-high, single-game total. He added nine rebounds and five assists and mirrored his all-around brilliance from Games 1 and 2.

"Combination of just moving my body, setting screens, cutting and when I got an opportunity, coming off hard to attack," Harden said, contrasting the differences between his two home outings. "Ultimately just being aggressive. Taking my shot when I had it and mixing it up."

Curry, who returned with 5:58 left in the third quarter, scored 23 points while his backcourt mate Klay Thompson tallied 24. Both shot 6-for-13 from deep as Golden State made 20 of 46 3-pointers and combined with the Rockets to set a playoff mark for combined 3s.

Warriors forward Draymond Green added 21 points and 15 rebounds before fouling out with 3:09 remaining. After shackling the Rockets from the opening tip of Game 3, the Warriors allowed Houston to hit 56.6 percent of its shots and surrendered 27 points in transition.

"We got beat on backdoor cuts. That's usually a pretty good sign that you're not ready to play defense," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "Got lost a couple times in transition. There were some signs, I thought, early on that we were not sharp."

The Rockets opened afire, dashing to a 19-3 lead with a combination of transition baskets and 3-pointers. Even after Curry helped the Warriors find their legs with eight consecutive points, Houston kept firing, building the lead to 34-16 when Harden hit a 3 at the 3:25 mark.

Harden sank a step-back jumper with 1.3 seconds left and Houston led 45-22 entering the second, matching the NBA record for postseason scoring in the first quarter. When Curry took his spill attempting to block a layup attempt by Ariza, flipping over Ariza and landing on his shoulders and the back of his head, Ariza followed with two free throws for a 57-36 lead with 5:52 remaining in the half.

Thompson responded by sparking a sudden blitz,