Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Warriors manage to win without KD
HOUSTON — Stephen Curry had 29 points, and Klay Thompson added 28 and the Golden State Warriors pulled away late in the fourth quarter for a 124-114 victory over the Houston Rockets on Thursday night.
The Warriors extended their road winning streak to nine games and have won an NBA-best 16 road games this season.
The teams stayed close through most of the game, but the Warriors had a seven-point lead with about 3½ minutes left. They scored the next five points, highlighted by a three from Curry, to make it 120-109 and send many of the home fans streaming for the exits.
The Rockets got 30 points from Eric Gordon, and Gerald Green came off the bench to score 29 and tie a career high with eight 3-pointers as they played their second game without James Harden, who is out for at least two weeks with a hamstring strain.
The Warriors were short-handed, too, playing without Kevin Durant, who missed the game with a strained right calf. But Andre Iguodala returned after sitting out Wednesday night with back and hip strains and had 10 points and eight assists.
Curry added nine rebounds and five assists and a steal in his third game back after missing 11 with a sprained right ankle.
Golden State led by 10 after a dunk by David West with about 71/2 minutes remaining. The Rockets scored the next five points, with a 3-pointer from Green, to get within 108103, but the Warriors scored the next five points to go up by 10 again.
The Warriors were up by 3 after three and opened the fourth quarter with an 8-1 run to make it 101-91 with about 10 minutes left.
Chris Paul re-entered the game after that and he helped get things going when he found Gordon for a 3-pointer which started a 7-2 run that cut the lead to 103-98. Paul finished with 28 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds.
Green’s second 3-pointer in less than a minute put Houston up by two midway through the third quarter. The Warriors scored the next seven points, with a 3-pointer from Thompson, to take a 7974 lead about a minute later.
They didn’t stay on top for long though as the Rockets scored the next 11 points to go up 85-79. Green delighted the crowd when he knocked down a three from the corner before being fouled by Iguodala and crashing to the ground. He also made the free throw.
The Warriors ended a 2½-minute scoring drought on a dunk by Kevon Looney before Curry added a layup.
But Green pushed the lead to 88-83 when he banked in another 3-pointer.
The Warriors closed out the quarter with a 10-2 spurt, capped by threes from Nick Young and Curry, to take a 93-90 lead into the fourth quarter.