Warriors down Rockets in clash of NBA Western powers
Stephen Curry’s 29 points and a record-setting triple-double from Draymond Green propelled the Golden State Warriors to a 124-114 NBA victory over the Houston Rockets on Thursday.
In a clash of the two highest-scoring teams in the NBA, the reigning champions Warriors shrugged off the absence of forward Kevin Durant, with Andre Iguodala stepping into the starter’s role and contributing 10 points and seven assists, AFP reported.
Green’s 17 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists made him the franchise’s leader in triple-doubles with 21.
He passed Tom Gola, who played with the team from 1955 to 1962.
“That’s a hell of an accomplishment,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr. “Tom Gola is a Hall of Famer. It was an amazing night from Draymond – he did everything for us.”
Amazing, perhaps, but for Kerr, not unexpected.
“This is who he is,” Kerr said of Green. “He’s a guy who fills up the stat sheet and controls the game defensively and just does everything.”
Klay Thompson added 28 points for the Warriors, who trailed by a point at halftime.
The lead changed hands seven times in the third quarter before the Warriors fashioned an 8-0 scoring run to close the period. They never trailed in the fourth, pushing their lead to as many as 14 points.
The Warriors notched their second win in as many nights, and their ninth straight road victory after a 125-122 triumph over the Mavericks in Dallas on Wednesday.
They improved their leagueleading record to 31-8.
Houston played their second straight game without NBA leading scorer James Harden, who is out for at least a fortnight with a hamstring injury.
In his absence, Eric Gordon led the Rockets with 30 points. Gerald Green came off the bench to score 29, matching his career high with eight three-pointers.
However, the Rockets fell to 27-10 – three games behind the Warriors atop the Western Conference as Golden State avenged a shock loss to Houston on the opening night of the season.
“It’s a long season, there’s a lot of ups and downs,” Curry said.
“But when you have a chance to beat a great team, chase that number one seed, that’s huge. We want to have that home court advantage, and these games are meaningful.”
Williams had told Vogue magazine last August about her “outrageous plan” to defend her title but the short turnaround after giving birth has proven too much for even the greatest player of her generation.
Williams, whose grand slam tally is just one shy of the all-time record held by Australian Margaret Court, said she was disappointed to withdraw but looked forward to returning in the future.
“After competing in Abu Dhabi I realized that although I am super close, I‘m not where I personally want to be,” Williams added.
“With that being said, and even though I am disappointed about it, I’ve decided not to compete in the Australian Open this year.”
Tournament director Craig Tiley called Williams’ efforts to try and be ready for a title defense at the Australian Open “Herculean” and said she transcended the sport.
“It was never going to be good enough for her to just compete, she wants to give herself the best chance to win,” Tiley said.
“I’ve been in constant contact with Serena and her team and know this is why she has pushed it and pushed it until the eleventh hour to make her final decision.”
Williams is the latest big name to withdraw from the year’s opening grand slam, which will be played from January 15-28, with Britain’s Andy Murray (hip) and Japan’s Kei Nishikori (wrist) having already said they would not compete.
There is also uncertainty over whether former champions Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka and Rafa Nadal, the latter of which arrived in Melbourne earlier on Friday, will be fit to take to the court.