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Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson Lead Warriors to Win over Rockets
January 5, 2018
Kevin Durant and James Harden were both sidelined, but the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets still showcased plenty of firepower in a potential Western Conference Finals preview on Thursday night.
Led by Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry, the Warriors put on a dynamic offensive display and downed the Rockets 124-114 at Toyota Center in Houston.
It was a vintage Splash Brothers performance from Curry and Thompson, who shredded the Rockets from beyond the arc with Durant out because of a right calf strain.
Thompson was especially prolific and lit it up by scoring 28 points, including a clutch triple with 5:32 remaining in regulation to put the Warriors up by 10:
Golden State's sniper drilled six of his 10 three-point attempts overall, and as FiveThirtyEight's Chris Herring observed, he was generally free to fire away with the Rockets shading toward Curry:
Curry, who has been in a zone since returning from a sprained ankle on Dec. 30, added a team-high 29 points (10-of-20 shooting), nine rebounds and five assists.
StatMuse broke down Curry's prolific stylings over the past three games:
Draymond Green, meanwhile, triple-doubled with 17 points, 14 boards and 10 assists in what turned out to be a historic outing:
The Rockets put forth a valiant effort trying to keep pace with the Warriors and did so by attempting 50 threes. The only problem was, they only converted those looks at a 34 percent clip with the league's leading scorer sidelined.
However, Houston did have one scalding shooter from deep on Thursday in the form of Gerald Green—who was home on the couch watching the NBA on TNT two weeks ago.
In 34 minutes, Green lit the nationally televised stage on fire by scoring 29 points on 9-of-16 shooting (8-of-15 from three) off the bench.
That eruption naturally caused observers on Twitter to have a moment:
"Thank goodness we got him," head coach Mike D'Antoni said after the loss, according to ClutchFans. "He's not been just good. He's been really good."
Incidentally, ESPN.com's Adrian Wojnarowski reported shortly after the final buzzer that the Rockets plan to guarantee Green's contract for the rest of the season.
That should be music to the ears of Harden, Chris Paul (28 points) and Eric Gordon (30 points), who now have a microwave scorer in tow who should help in Houston's ongoing arms race with the Warriors.
The Rockets will hope Green can keep things churning Saturday when they host the Detroit Pistons.
The Warriors will also be back in action Saturday for a Pacific Division tilt against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center.