Golden State Warriors Finally End Losing Skid With Victory Over Houston
The Warriors got their first win in two weeks last night as they knocked off the Houston Rockets 121-116. They inched closer to .500 with the victory, notching their seventh win of the season in 15 games. They now sit at 10th in the West, with multiple games against the Clippers and Suns on the horizon. Steve Kerr rolled out the same starting lineup as last game going small with CP3, Steph, Klay, Wiggins and Looney.
The first quarter was tight the entire way through as no team took a lead of more than five points. Klay Thompson found his stroke early in the period, knocking down a few shots from beyond the arc and getting an and-1 on a pull up jumper. The Warriors second unit played solid basketball in the back half of the first as Moody and Saric both nailed threes while Kuminga was aggressive getting two buckets himself. After 12 minutes, the Warriors led 29-27. Golden State picked up the pace in the second period putting up 34 points. Chris Paul and Kuminga poured in a pair of threes before Wiggins nailed back to back long balls to give the Warriors a 47-42 advantage. The Rockets refused to go away and kept the lead at around five points until the last minute when Wiggins got two to fall from the line and Curry converted an and-1 three pointer putting the Dubs up 63-53.
The third quarter was neck and neck, as the Rockets made runs on several occasions but the Warriors continued to play solid defense and get timely buckets to keep them at bay. Sengun got an easy look at the rim before knocking one down from downtown, cutting the lead to five. But Looney converted two at the charity stripe before Klay splashed a three and the Warriors were back up ten. Later in the quarter, Saric sprayed a three to extend the lead to 84-70 but Dillon Brooks came right back with a three of his own. Following suit, Podziemski drained a three but Aaron Holiday matched him putting an exclamation mark on a riveting four possessions. Saric got the line and hit both free throws at the end of the third to give the Warriors a comfortable 92-81 lead going into the fourth. Aaron Holiday got the lane for a nice finish to start the fourth, trimming the lead to nine, but after that the Warriors didn’t let the Rockets within single digits until just over seven minutes when Jabari Smith Jr. got to the rack for two making it a 102-93 ballgame. Kerr called a timeout here and drew up a play for Klay who proceeded to cash in on a three pointer bringing the lead back to 12. The Warriors did a good job closing this game out with the exception of the last 60 seconds when things got a little testy. Houston cut the lead to five and had the chance to make it a one possession game but Golden State was ice cold from the line and sent the Rockets packing 121-116.
Alperen Sengun led the way for the Rockets with 30 points on an efficient 13-23 from the field. He added 13 boards and 5 assists as well rounding out a very good game. The supporting cast consisted of Jabari Smith Jr. with 17, Dillon Brooks with 16, Jalen Green with 16, and Aaron Holiday with 13 off the bench. Fred Vanvleet had an unimpressive 10 points on a 3-13 clip but was able to tally 14 dimes. For the Warriors, it was clockwork as Curry put up a team high 32 points including 11-12 from the line. CP3 had 15 points and 12 assists as well as a surprisingly team high 6 boards. Klay had 20 on 7-16 from the field and 5 threes. Wiggins came back down to earth after his explosion last game and had a mediocre 10 points. Finally, it was Saric with a monumental 18 off the bench while Moody and Kuminga had 7 apiece.
The Dubs shined from beyond the arc shooting 48.8% from downtown. They also were great in contesting shots and getting hands in shooter’s faces as the Rockets were limited to 31.7% from deep. Perhaps the biggest takeaway is that Golden State thrived at holding onto the ball and not turning it over as they only gave it away 8 times, a season low. They were brutally outscored in the paint 56-18 but this was made up for with the three point clinic they put on. They only snagged 8 offensive boards which you’d like to see increase a little, but it was overall a great showing from Golden State and the only stat that truly matters was accomplished, a win.
The Warriors now stand at 7-8 after starting the season 6-2. A tough matchup against Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns is next as the Warriors look to get back to .500. Bradley Beal will be out but obviously so will Draymond Green. If Golden State wants to win this game, they will need production from Wiggins and Klay. With the game being in Phoenix, I’ve got the Suns coming away with the victory 125-119.