Stephen Curry on Loss vs. Rockets: With 20-Point Lead, 'You Don't Lose at Home'

When the Golden State Warriors held a 73-53 lead against the Houston Rockets in the opening minutes of the third quarter Thursday night, it appeared the two-time defending champs were well on their way to victory.

James Harden had other ideas. The reigning MVP recorded 44 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds while hitting clutch shot after clutch shot late to lead his team to a 135-134 overtime victory.

Afterward, Golden State guard Stephen Curry told reporters, "You have a lead like that, you don't lose at home."

Curry finished with 35 points, six assists and three rebounds on 14-of-27 shooting (5-of-15 from three). He also wasn't alone in thinking Golden State gave this game away.

"I do feel we did," Klay Thompson said. "I don't think we played with that killer instinct in that second half. I think we relaxed being up."

According to ESPN.com's Ohm Youngmisuk, it marked the Warriors' largest blown halftime lead (17 points) since Jan. 20, 2007. And it's all because Harden is playing at an unbelievable level.

He notched his fifth consecutive game with at least 40 points, becoming just the fifth player in the last 50 years to do so, according to SportsCenter. Per NBA.com, Harden became the first player in league history to make five-plus three-pointers in eight consecutive games.

None of his triples was bigger than the one he hit over two defenders in the final seconds of overtime:

The loss was the Warriors' sixth of the season at Oracle Arena, one more than they had during the entire 2016-17 regular season.

After jumping out to an 11-2 start on the season, they have lost 12 of their past 26 games. Those recent struggles don't have Thompson panicking, though.

"I'm not sure, but we'll stay the course and get back to doing what we do," he said. "It's a different year than it has [been] in the past. Although we are not blowing teams out, we are still 11 games above .500 with a chance to go on a run here before All-Star break. It's not the end of the world."

Golden State owns the third-best record (25-14) in the West, just 1.5 games back of the top-seeded Denver Nuggets.