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SEVEN more wins. That's all we - as in, Australia - need to produce back-to-back NBA champions.

Golden State Warriors, with dual-Olympian Andrew Bogut manning the middle, today took a 1-0 lead over Houston Rockets in their Western Conference Final, with Game 2 in Oakland on Friday.

The Warriors need just three more wins to advance to the NBA Finals.

The Cleveland Cavaliers need four.

They start their Eastern Conference Final tomorrow against the Hawks in Atlanta, the Cavs' backcourt shored up by Boomers' London Olympics starter Matthew Dellavedova.

If Bogut can get three more wins and Delly four, then the Warriors and Cavaliers will meet for the NBA Championship and one of our guys will spend the post-game of that series decider showered in champagne.

With Patty Mills and Aron Baynes NBA champs a year ago with San Antonio Spurs, we again have a chance as a nation to get a hand on basketball's biggest annual prize.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors today - no huge surprise there - with 34 points, six rebounds and five assists as they beat the Rockets 110-106.

Shaun Livingston came off the bench to score 14 of his playoff career-high 18 points in the second quarter on 5-of-5 shooting, igniting a Golden State recovery after it had fallen behind by as many as 16.

“I was just trying to bring energy off the bench. Our bench has been good all year,” Livingston said.

“We rely on our depth. Again, I just tried to come in and do my part.”

Curry hit a buzzer-beater to close the half, then it was Harrison Barnes stepping up in the final period when the Warriors broke a 97-97 deadlock with an 11-0 outburst.

Houston's James Harden, runner-up to Curry for league MVP honours, almost had a triple-double with 28 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.

Houston hasn’t been to the conference finals since 1997 and it was Golden State's first since 1976.

Trevor Ariza had 20 points, including a three which cut the deficit to 106-108 with heartbeats remaining, and Josh Smith paired 17 points and seven rebounds for the Rockets.

Houston’s Dwight Howard was hobbled by a sore knee and finished with seven points. He is questionable for Game 2.