SAN FRANCISCO – The Golden State Warriors shook off the sting of their one-point loss on Friday with a convincing 16-point victory over the Houston Rockets. The Warriors 125-109 win tonight came behind 38 points from two-time MVP Stephen Curry.
Tonight’s game marked the sixth straight game that Curry scored 30-plus points, the longest streak of his career. The last Golden State player to score 30-plus points in six straight games: Hall of Famer Rick Barry, who accomplished that feat in 1974.
“We started the game better, better energy,” said Curry, who finished with a team-high eight rebounds to go along with five assists and five turnovers. “Turned it over a little bit too much, got a little sloppy in the middle but our intentions were good, our aggressiveness was there.”
Curry, who shot 13-of-21 from the floor for the game, did most of his damage in the third quarter scoring 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He scored 20 straight points for the Warriors to close out the quarter. Curry also made five of his game-high eight three-pointers in the third quarter.
“Steph was tremendous,” Golden State’s head coach Steve Kerr said. “The shot-making, not just the threes but some of the shots he hit around the basket. He had a highlight reel worth of plays out there tonight.”
Andrew Wiggins finished with 25 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the floor to go along with six rebounds and three assists. Wiggins scored 19 points in the first half to lead the Warriors. Golden State outscored the Rockets, 33-18, in the second quarter to take a 60-48 lead into halftime.
“I thought we had good energy tonight from the start,” said Kerr. “I thought the second half, we messed around with the game a little bit. But a win is a win, and we needed a win one badly.”
With Kelly Oubre Jr. sitting out the game with a sprained left wrist suffered in the Warriors loss to the Wizards after trying to dunk on Washington’s center Robin Lopez. Kent Bazemore filled in for Oubre in the starting lineup. Bazemore finished with nine points and six rebounds.
Golden State’s bench outscored Houston’s bench, 45-27, thanks in large part to big scoring contributions from Jordan Poole (21 points) and Michael Mulder (10 points).
Juan Toscano-Anderson filled up the stat sheet too, scoring eight points to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Offensively, the Warriors were running on all cylinders. They shot a blistering 53.8-percent from the field, including 40-percent from beyond the three-point line. Golden State dominated in the paint, outscoring the Rockets 60-48 and on fast-break points, they outscored Houston 28-12.
Defensively, the Warriors clamped down holding the Rockets to 46.6-percent from the field. In the first half, Golden State held Houston to 41-percent shooting from the field.
The win was also bittersweet for Golden State, their rookie center James Wiseman injured his right knee in the second quarter. Wiseman retreated to the locker room with a noticeable limp and did not return to the game. Wiseman, the second overall pick in the draft, fell awkwardly on his right side when his dunk attempt was blocked by KJ Martin.
Wiseman has already missed 11 games this season with a wrist injury. He is expected to undergo an MRI on his right knee before Monday’s matchup against the visiting Denver Nuggets.
“He going to get an MRI tonight or tomorrow,” Kerr said.
John Wall scored 30 points and seven assists for Houston. Kelly Olynyk added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets, who have dropped nine of their last 11 games.
“They were getting out and running on us,” said Rockets head coach Stephen Silas. “It wasn’t just the fast-break points. It was very much our frustration with missing shots, our frustration with the referees, and then not running back in a way we could get matched up.”
Houston found themselves trailing 72-52 early in the third quarter, before trimming Golden State’s lead to 105-93 midway in the fourth quarter.
That was as close as the Rockets would get as the Warriors went on a 20-12 run to close out the game and seal up the win.
Photo by Warriors/Twitter
