Stephen Curry scored a game-high 27 points and the Golden State Warriors survived a fourth-quarter comeback from the Houston Rockets to claim a 105-98 road victory on Thursday.
The Warriors improved to 3-1 since the acquisition of Jimmy Butler III, who finished with 19 points and eight rebounds. Golden State (28-27) pulled above .500 entering the All-Star break.
The Rockets trailed by 24 points in the third quarter before rallying behind their reserves, with Nate Williams and Jock Landale sinking 3-pointers before Aaron Holiday followed his floater with a pair of free throws that pulled Houston within 91-89 with 6:03 left.
However, the Rockets followed by missing six consecutive shots. Curry delivered a dagger 3-pointer for a 96-89 lead with 3:42 remaining, and Butler later added an alley-oop dunk to keep Houston at bay.
Brandin Podziemski put up 18 points for Golden State. Draymond Green contributed 13 points and eight assists, and Moses Moody recorded 10 points.
Holiday scored a season-high 25 points while Landale added 13 points (11 in the fourth quarter) and eight rebounds. Williams tallied a season-best 11 points in 18 minutes, also a season-high total.
Curry sank a 3-pointer at the 7:03 mark of the third quarter to provide the Warriors their first 20-plus-point lead at 74-53, an advantage that swelled to 24 before the Rockets fashioned their improbable rally.
Houston appeared to lose its best opportunity to extend the comeback when Jae’Sean Tate missed two free throws that would have sliced the deficit to 10 with 20.5 seconds remaining in the third. Still, the Rockets kept the comeback going to open the final period.
Before the fourth-quarter surge, the Rockets were last in contention late in the opening period when Jalen Green absorbed a foul while nailing a corner 3-pointer to slice their deficit to 19-17. However, Green missed the subsequent free throw and opportunity at a four-point play, and the Warriors closed the period with a 9-2 push to carry a 28-19 lead into the second.
Houston had nearly as many turnovers (seven) in the first as field goals (eight), and the Warriors scored seven points off those giveaways. The Warriors extended to a 42-27 lead on a Moody tip-in, and with Curry recording 12 points in the second frame, the Warriors held a 62-48 lead at the break.
The Rockets’ 13 turnovers in the first half exceeded their total of 11 in a 119-111 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday. Houston (34-21) had its two-game winning streak end entering the break.
–Field Level Media
