WARRIORS HANG ON TO BEAT ROCKETS
Old nemesis stops win streak in latest chapter of fierce rivalry
The Rockets would not go away, but then that has been what their season and the renewed hopes it has brought have been all about.
They started badly, struggled in the middle, then came on late. They did the same on Wednesday night.
The Rockets’ late run came up short, with the Warriors holding on 106-104. But as with the season, the Warriors remained on top, snapping the Rockets’ three-game run against them and their ninegame winning streak, while the Rockets did enough to give more credence to their renewed championship aspirations.
The Rockets surged through a 12-2 run in the final minutes, closing to within one with 10 seconds left, capped by a Chris Paul break to a three-point play. The Warriors, however, got the ball to Stephen Curry, who made both free throws, allowing the Warriors to intentionally foul James Harden before he could attempt a 3-pointer.
Harden missed his second attempt and P.J. Tucker batted it back, but the Warriors chased it down as time ran out.
While Harden and Paul combined for 53 points and
Curry and Klay Thompson had 54, the difference was the Warriors’ third star, even with Kevin Durant out. DeMarcus Cousins showed what he can bring with season-high 27 points and seven assists.
The Rockets could not match that with their usual 3-point shooting failing them, as Harden went 2 of 12 from deep, getting most of his 29 points and 10 assists on drives.
The Rockets rallied back from down 12 in the first half and even briefly took a third-quarter lead. They had dramatically improved defensively and after a poor start, had found some of their usual shooting touch from deep. But when they could not finish possessions with defensive rebounds, the Warriors built a 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter, their largest of the night.
The Rockets hung around to within a chance. They trailed by 11 when Harden returned with seven minutes left. They were still down 11 when Curry subbed in a minute later. But with every basket difficult to come by on their end, the Warriors were getting good looks too easily and often.
In keeping with the pattern in the meetings of the Rockets and Warriors this season, the Warriors took their turn building a double-digit lead. But this time, rather than with the bursts of scoring that marked their run to a 20-point lead in January or the Rockets’ to a 20-point lead in February, the Warriors grinded their way to a strong start.
With the Rockets struggling to get good looks, and missing most of the open shots from deep they could get, the Warriors led 33-23 at the end of the first quarter. The Warriors had much of their offensive working, with Cousins passing sharply to cutters and Curry and Thompson pouring in 3s. But through much of the first half, the Rockets’ greatest difficulties were on the other end.
They had so much trouble getting free from the Warriors’ sticky defense, the Rockets often found themselves racing the shot clock. But the second quarter began with the Rockets forcing turnovers, bringing pace they needed to the offense and limiting the Warriors to 21 secondquarter points.
The Rockets still had to find their 3-point touch, with Harden missing his first four after going 12 of 44 in his previous four games. But with the Warriors up 12, he sank a 3pointer through a Draymond Green foul and seemed to get going from there. Harden scored nine of his 16 first-half points with two of his four assists in the final 5½ minutes of the half. His second 3pointer tied the game.
Though Curry finished a drive to give the Warriors a lead heading into the second half, the Rockets had undone much of the damage from the slow start.
They still had to show they could get stops when the Warriors were not throwing the ball away. They almost as certainly would have to shoot far better than they had in the first half, particularly when anyone besides Paul and Harden shot. But the way things began, they could not complain about where they were heading into the second half.
The Rockets even got enough shots to fall to take a four-point lead. That did not last, with the challenge becoming to get the stops to make a run last. When they finally did, it was just a little too late.