Thursday, January 22, 2015
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Warriors complete sweep of feisty Rockets

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[January 22, 2015]  OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Houston Rockets threw a little bit of everything -- including the occasional elbow and forearm -- at the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night.

They still couldn't crack the league's winningest team.

In a game that featured five technical fouls, including four on Houston, the Warriors emphatically completed their first season-series sweep of the Rockets in 41 years, crushing one of the Western Conference's top teams 126-113 in a game not nearly as close as the final score would indicate.

Shooting guard Klay Thompson scored 27 points, and the Warriors limited the Rockets to 30.2 percent shooting in a dominant first half en route to their fourth straight win over Houston this season and their franchise-record 17th consecutive home victory.

"That's something that's very important to our team: Protect our home court," said Warriors reserve forward David Lee, who recorded his 10,000th career point while Golden State was improving its league-best record at Oracle Arena to 19-1.

"We talked about it at the very beginning of the season," Lee continued. "We have great fans here. We need to take advantage. And then we need to go out and get road victories."

The Warriors (34-6) thumped the Rockets by 11, 12, 25 and 13 -- an average of 15.3 points per game -- in recording their first 4-0 sweep of Houston since the 1973-74 season.

The Rockets (29-14) trailed by 20 at halftime and by as many as 30 in the third quarter of a frustrating night that saw reserve forward Josh Smith ejected for drawing two technical fouls.

"That doesn't bother us," Warriors center Andrew Bogut said of the Rockets' rough play. "We had a big lead. No team likes to get beat like that. Teams are going to do that."

Point guard Patrick Beverley and small forward Trevor Ariza both had run-ins with Warriors star Stephen Curry. Ariza was nailed with a technical foul, as was Curry for getting caught arm-wrestling with Beverley.

Curry might have received a game-ending second "T" if not for power forward Draymond Green stepping in to prevent him from going after Ariza.

"He had just got a technical foul, and they are going to do anything they can possibly do to get him thrown out of the game," Green said. "They would be looking for me to do something crazy. I just grabbed Steph."

The game was tied at 36-all early in the second quarter and Golden State led just 42-39 with 7:26 remaining in the first half before going into the halftime break on a 20-3 run that opened a 62-42 lead. The Rockets missed 11 of their 12 shots in the stretch, during which Thompson scored 11 of his 18 first-half points.

The Rockets scored only 13 points in the second period, the second consecutive game in which the Warriors' opponent totaled just 13 in the second period. Golden State also accomplished the feat in a 122-79 blowout of the Denver Nuggets on Monday.

"They play hard. They play fast," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said of the Warriors. "Loose balls, long rebounds, all that stuff ... Someone's going to get them, and if it's not you, you don't win, and we didn't get them."

Smith's ejection came in the third period after the forward argued what he thought should have been a Warriors foul. His second technical foul quickly followed the first, leading to his disqualification.

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Curry complemented backcourt mate Thompson with 22 points and 10 assists for the Warriors, who were playing for the second time on a five-game homestand. Green contributed 18 points to the win, which was Golden State's 11th in 12 games and 26th by 10 or more points this season.

"It was a good response," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of how his club dealt with the Rockets' tactics. "Anytime something like that happens, you have to respond with your play."

The Warriors hit half their shots in the game and 13 of their 29 3-point attempts.

Shooting guard James Harden, held to 12 points when the Warriors won 131-106 at Houston on Saturday, led the Rockets with 33 points. Fourteen of his points came on 16 free-throw attempts.

Reserve guards Corey Brewer (20) and Jason Terry (14) combined for 34 points for the Rockets, who were playing the opener of a three-game trip. Houston, which was coming off a 110-98 home win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday, alternated wins and losses in its past six games.

It was a particularly frustrating night for Rockets center Dwight Howard, who was nailed with a technical foul and spent much of the game in foul trouble. He missed five of his eight shots and managed only seven points to go with 11 rebounds.

"They tried to frustrate us, and that contributed to us losing the game," Howard said. "This is the regular season. They are playing great basketball right now, but all that matters is what you do in the playoffs."

Howard's counterpart, Bogut, blocked five shots, three by Howard. Bogut also found time for nine points and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes.



"I thought Boges was fantastic," Kerr said. "Boges gets excited to play against the best centers in the league. He takes great pride in his defense."

NOTES: NBA All-Star Game starters, voted upon by the fans, will be announced Thursday night. Golden State G Stephen Curry is the only likely starter among the Warriors and Rockets. ... Warriors coach Steve Kerr insisted before the game he would not lobby for votes among Western Conference coaches for G Klay Thompson to be an All-Star reserve. "I sort of assume that he will be there," he said. "You can't have (just) one All-Star and be 33-6 -- that's impossible." ... Rockets coach Kevin McHale admitted he will take a different approach in trying to help G James Harden and C Dwight Howard earn reserve spots on the West team, declaring, "Everyone does a little bit of campaigning." ... Rockets F Terrence Jones, out since early November with nerve damage in his left leg, made the three-game trip with the club but didn't play Wednesday.

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