Dillon Brooks went for a game-high 24 points, Amen Thompson spearheaded a suffocating defense on Stephen Curry and the Houston Rockets took a step toward clinching the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference with a 106-96 victory over the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco on Sunday night.
Alperen Sengun had a 19-point, 14-rebound double-double and Northern California native Jalen Green poured in 21 points for the Rockets (52-27), who clinched no worse than a tie for second place in the West.
The Warriors (46-32), meanwhile, saw a five-game winning streak come to an end. The loss dropped them into a four-way tie for fifth place in the West, a half-game behind the fourth-place Denver Nuggets with four games remaining.
Hounded most of the night by Thompson, Curry was held to three points, his second-lowest output of the season and the lowest of his career in a game in which he played at least 33 minutes.
Curry missed nine of his 10 shots overall and seven of his eight 3-pointers. He did find time for a game-high eight assists.
Opening a three-game California swing, the Rockets trailed 24-13 with 2:00 remaining in the first quarter. But they took a 51-50 lead into the half and gradually pulled away by holding Golden State to just 72 points over the final 38 minutes of the game.
Brooks connected on 10 of 13 shots for the Rockets, helping the visitors outshoot the Warriors 48.4 to 41.6 percent.
Thompson also helped out offensively, going for 14 points to complement six rebounds, a team-high six assists, three steals and two blocks. Fred VanVleet also had three steals while Jabari Smith Jr. added 16 points and nine rebounds off the bench in Houston’s third straight win.
Buddy Hield paced the Warriors with 20 points, all but two coming on 6-for-11 accuracy on 3-pointers. Golden State outscored the visitors 48-30 from beyond the arc, taking 13 more attempts.
Brandin Podziemski had 19 points, Gary Payton II chipped in with 16 and Jimmy Butler III scored 13 for Golden State, which lost for just the second time in five meetings against Houston this season.
Kevon Looney was Golden State’s leading rebounder with 11 to go with five points.
–Field Level Media
