The Golden State Warriors are back in the win column after finishing atop the Houston Rockets 121-116 in San Francisco behind Stephen Curry’s 32.
In his second game back from a knee complaint that kept him sidelined for a pair of games, Curry finished with 32 points on 8-of-14 shooting and 5-of-9 from deep.
It marked his 14th game in a row with at least four three-point makes – an NBA record.
Klay Thompson (20 points, 5-of-11 threes) enjoyed his highest-scoring outing of the season whilst Chris Paul (15 points, 12 assists) and Dario Šarić (18 points, five rebounds) also contributed.
A 34-26 second quarter saw the Warriors pull away from the Rockets and take a double-digit lead into the half which grew to as high as 14 towards the end of the third.
Just 24 hours on from a heartbreaking loss to the Lakers, Houston continued clawing their way back into it and cut the deficit to as low as five in the final minute but ultimately fell short.
Golden State’s efficiency from deep (21-of-43 vs. 13-of-41) and ability to get to the line (28-of-33 vs. 15-of-19) proved the difference as the Rockets slumped to their third-straight loss.
Ime Udoka’s squad dominated the points in the paint battle (56 to 18) and finished with a rebounding edge (54 to 47).
Alperen Şengün’s outstanding start to the year continued with the Turkish bigman putting up 30 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists on 13-of-23 shooting.
Jabari Smith Jr. (17 points, nine rebounds), Dillon Brooks (16 points, four rebounds), and Aaron Holiday (13 points, four steals) also had strong nights.
Fred VanVleet (10 points, 14 assists) and Jalen Green (16 points, three rebounds) shot a combined 9-of-28 from the floor and 3-of-17 from three.
The Rockets – who are 6-1 at the Toyota Center – are back at home on Thursday against the 3-10 Grizzlies whilst the Warriors are in Phoenix the same day.
