Curry, Thompson lead Durant-less Warriors past Harden-less Rockets

[January 05, 2018]  Stephen Curry scored 29 points and Klay Thompson added 28 as the Golden State Warriors recorded a 124-114 victory over the Houston Rockets on Thursday at Toyota Center in Houston.

The Warriors improved their NBA-best record to 31-8 and won their ninth consecutive road game despite the fact forward Kevin Durant sat out after suffering a strained right calf on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Rockets guard James Harden missed his second straight game with a partially torn hamstring and could miss the rest of the month.

Golden State forward Draymond Green had 17 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his 21st career triple-double, breaking the franchise mark set by Hall of Famer Tom Gola.

Eric Gordon scored 30 points for the Rockets (27-10), who dropped their seventh straight home game against Golden State. Gerald Green matched his career best of eight 3-pointers en route to a season-best 29-point outing, and Chris Paul added 28 points and nine assists.

The Rockets were a woeful 17-of-50 from 3-point range in a contest that was the 1,000th of Mike D'Antoni's coaching career. His record is 537-463.

"Just getting stops," Curry said of the key to the victory in a postgame interview on TNT. "We know Houston is an explosive team, and you can't get discouraged when Gerald Green and Eric Gordon are making shots."

Thompson's layup gave Golden State a 101-91 edge with 9:57 remaining. The Rockets were within 115-108 on Paul's 3-pointer with 3:39 left before the Warriors scored the next seven points to wrap up a victory that stretched the road winning streak to third longest in franchise history.

 

Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) drives the ball during the third quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Gerald Green scored 13 points in the third quarter for the Rockets, who used an 11-0 spurt to take an 85-79 lead with 2:41 left in the period. But Golden State controlled the rest of the quarter, tying the score at 90 on Nick Young's 3-pointer with 37.6 seconds left and taking a 93-90 edge on Curry's 3 with 2.7 seconds remaining.

Gordon scored 17 and Paul added 15 as the Rockets held a 63-62 lead at the break.

Golden State finished the half with a 10-2 surge, capped by Thompson's 3-pointer with 5.4 seconds left. Thompson scored 15 and Curry added 14 in the half.

Gordon scored 13 first-quarter points as the Rockets held a 37-33 lead after the stanza.

--Field Level Media

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