Kevin Durant said he doesn't believe James Harden is "cheating" the game with how he plays.

"I wouldn't say that he has an advantage," Durant said. "I think everybody, once they get into the lane, they use little tricks to try to get their shots off. I don't think he's any different.

"He may bump guys off going to the rim, but everybody does that. I wouldn't say that he's found a way to ... cheat the rules. I wouldn't say that. I just think that he has his style of play. It might not be what everybody likes to see, but it's been effective. And I don't think he's been cheating the game at all."

Durant said Harden has "always been clever" at being able to get to the paint and putting pressure on the defense.

League sources believe the Houston Rockets may be circumventing a NBA rule regarding complaints about competition-related matters by leaking a report about the officiating during the Western Conference Finals last season.

The NBA sent a memo to all postseason participants reminding teams that the process for raising “competition-related matters” that include officiating matters need to be shared with their opponent.

The Golden State Warriors were aware of Houston's complaints to the NBA last season, but had moved on. The Warriors "had forgotten about it" until the report was leaked to The Athletic on Sunday, according to a source.

The Rockets protested "landing area" calls on several occasions during Game 1.

The Houston Rockets believe the Golden State Warriors receive an officiating edge, which manifested in the frustrations exhibited by James Harden, Chris Paul and Mike D'Antoni in Game 1.

By the Rockets’ internal count from their video crew, there were eight attempted 3-pointers that should have been fouls in Game 1.

Both D'Antoni and Harden said referees told them at halftime that they had missed foul calls on four of Houston's three-point attempts.

Houston has been making a data-driven case with the NBA for quite some time that the Warriors receive a major officiating advantage.

After the Rockets lost in the Western Conference Finals to the Warriors last season, they went through the play-by-play officiating reports from each game, which are similar to the Last Two Minute Reports except for all 48 minutes. The Rockets found that they had a double-digit point deficit in six of the seven games when accounting for potential points that were lost along the way. Game 7 was the worst example in which they should have had 18 more points. The data found that two of the 27 straight missed three-pointers were missed foul calls.

Kevin Durant finished with 35 points as the Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets 104-100 in game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.

Steve Kerr compared Durant's recent playoff run to Michael Jordan.

"There's this guy named Michael something. Can't remember his last name. No, but Kevin's run this past week has just been off the charts. I've said it a few times this week: He's the most skilled basketball player on Earth. He's one of the most skilled basketball players to ever play the game. There's never been anybody like him. Six-[foot]-11, handles the ball, shoots 3s, passes, defends. He's just an unbelievable talent. And I think after we lost Game 2 to the Clippers, I think he just felt like he had to turn it up and lift us up another level. That's exactly what he's done," said Kerr.

Durant is averaging 40.2 points in his last 5 games.

Durant added that he's starting to put it all together on both ends of the court. 

"Each stop along the journey has been -- I've just been tailor-made for the moment, I guess. I learned a lot so far as a player up until this point, so I think I'm starting to put everything together on both sides of the ball. I'm not looking at points or shots that I get up, just how focused I am for each possession."

Klay Thompson remains a game-time decision for game 1 against the Houston Rockets after an MRI on his right ankle returned clean on Saturday night.

"If (Thompson's injury) is going to get worse, we should not play him today," said Steve Kerr.

Steph Curry, who also suffered a sprained ankle in game 6 against the Clippers, will play.

Austin Rivers will miss the game for the Rockets due to an illness. 

Kevin Durant was asked to offer his assessment on the current state of the Golden State Warriors' locker room as they begin the Western Conference Semifinals against the Houston Rockets.

“Everything we do is high-profile,” Durant said. “And I don’t believe anything was ever wrong with our locker room. No offense to you two guys (Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson), but every time your (media) colleagues walk in here, they bring that toxic energy in here and they start writing about that energy because it’s how they feel.

“But when you’re actually in this locker room, there’s nothing going on in here. We just be chilling. There’s a lot of speculation about me, about my attitude, about where I’m playing next season that a lot of these dudes in here (points around at random media members) are trying to distract us with and then want to blame it on me because it’s easy to blame it on me. I understand that. We understand that. So for us, we just made it about basketball.”

Steve Kerr said he wants to see the NBA change their rule on players getting suspended for accumulating technical fouls in the playoffs.

"Well, if we go to Finals, I think Draymond (Green) and Kevin (Durant) are each on pace for about 42 technicals and six suspensions, so hopefully we can withstand that. I will never understand the rule that everybody falls under the exact same category, in terms of whether you lose in four games in the first round or you play 25 games and you go to the Finals, that it's the same technical fouls points that lead to a suspension," said Kerr.

Players receive a 1-game suspension following their 7th technical foul under current playoff rules.

Kerr added that he didn't know exactly how he would change the rule.

"I don't know. That's a good question. Series by series or maybe every two series. Just the way it is now doesn't make a ton of sense. I'd like to see it revisited, but that's coming from a guy whose team gets a lot of technical fouls and plays deep in the playoffs. So I'm a little biased."

Klay Thompson and Steph Curry are both questionable to play in game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals after spraining their ankles in game 6 against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Steve Kerr called Thompson's injury a "significant sprain."

“Let’s just call it questionable...They both came in today and got some work and we’ll see how they’re doing tomorrow," added Kerr.

The Warriors series against the Rockets begins on Sunday. 

Kevin Durant scored 50 points, including 38 in the first half, in the Golden State Warriors' 129-110 win over the Los Angeles Clippers to clinch the series in 6 games. 

Durant's 38 points represented the second highest point total in a half in the NBA playoffs.

"It was one of the great performances I've ever seen in my life. I've seen some good ones, been around some decent players. He just carried us these last couple games of the series. He's the ultimate weapon because there's no defense for Kevin. No matter what anybody does, he can get a good shot. And he knew we needed him badly, and he just took over the game in the first half and set a great tone," said Steve Kerr.

Lou Williams added that there was nothing the Clippers could do to slow down Durant.

"We tried everything. We had several different coverages for KD...Like sometimes -- sometimes you come across special people and it doesn't matter what you send to them. There's no scheme. There's no nothing that you can do with special people. He's one of them. And he showed it tonight. He put them guys on his shoulders," said Williams. 

The conventional wisdom for several weeks has been that Kevin Durant will sign with the New York Knicks.

Sources say some of Durant's former teammates believe Durant will sign with the Knicks. Sources also say that several of his current teammates have told friends they expect Durant to sign with the Knicks as well.

"Just a matter of putting pen to paper," said one agent of another top 2019 top free agent about Durant to the Knicks.

The belief is that Durant sees the opportunity to win with the Knicks as a way of changing the way he's viewed after joining a Warriors' team that had just won 73 games.

"Winning there would change the narrative around him," one executive said.

Multiple executives expect Kyrie Irving to join Durant with the Knicks.