OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Golden State Warriors slew the great James Harden on Wednesday night.

Next up, the greatest: LeBron James.

Riding a suffocating defense that thrived in the shadow of record-breaking 3-point shooting all season, the Warriors advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in 40 years, closing out a 4-1 series win over the Houston Rockets with a 104-90 triumph Wednesday in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.

After harassing Harden into an NBA-postseason-record 13 turnovers, the Warriors, who dispatched the New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies and Rockets by winning 12 of 15 games, move on to face James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals, a best-of-seven series that is scheduled to open in Oakland on June 4.

Cleveland finished off a four-game sweep of the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference finals Tuesday night.

"It's great for the league," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of a series that will pair the 1975 champion against a Cleveland franchise that has never won a title. "To get to the Finals, first time in 40 years for the Warriors ... it's joy. Our players are feeling it. I know our fans are.

"I'm happy for everybody, especially our fans. Forty years is a long time."

Small forward Harrison Barnes led a game-clinching, fourth-quarter run, but it was the Golden State defense -- led by Barnes, shooting guard Klay Thompson and super-sub swingman Andre Iguodala -- that provided the biggest difference in the clinching win.

"We were the No. 1-ranked defense in the league this year," Kerr said. "I would say this was in many ways a very Warriors-like performance.

"Andre Iguodala might have had the greatest six-point game I've ever seen in my life. I thought Andre's defense on James was absolutely brilliant, and really the key to the whole game."

Coming off a 45-point explosion in Game 4 during which he made seven 3-pointers, Harden missed all three of his 3-point tries, shot just 2-for-11 overall and was held to 14 points, 10 of which came at the free-throw line.

"It's tough, man," Harden said. "Thirteen turnovers is unacceptable."

Added Rockets coach Kevin McHale, "He had a tough go tonight. There's nothing else you can really say about it. Sometimes you go out there and you're trying your best and things just don't work out."

Barnes helped the Warriors break open a tight game with four consecutive hoops to cap an 11-2 run that turned a six-point game into an 87-72 Warriors advantage with 7:07 to play.

Barnes, who recorded 24 points, took charge immediately after Thompson, who had 20 points in his first 22 minutes, left the game after getting kneed in the left ear by Rockets small forward Trevor Ariza.

"I just tried to stay aggressive," Barnes said of stepping up after Thompson went down. "They were focusing so much attention on Steph (Curry). ... I was able to make some shots."

Thompson, who returned to the bench but not to the game, received three stitches in his ear after being taken to the locker room following the foul. He was re-examined after the game and found to have concussion symptoms.

The Rockets closed within nine on two occasions in the final 4:50 but got no closer, ending a season in which they recorded the third-best record in the NBA (56-26) during the regular season.

"I'm disappointed right now," McHale said. "We didn't play particularly well, which we had to play well. Turnovers, offensive rebounds and our inability to just finish at the rim. We were extraordinarily bad at finishing at the rim."

The Warriors won despite shooting just 40.7 percent and missing 20 of their 29 3-point attempts. The Rockets were even worse in both areas (35.1 percent overall, 5-for-24 on 3-pointers) and got outrebounded 59-39.

Curry, the point guard who played with a sleeve on his right arm followi