By Matthew T.F. Harrington

After winning the first four games, the Golden State Warriors dropped their second straight preseason contest Sunday. Golden State fell to the Houston Rockets 90-83 from State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas just two days after losing its first game of the tune-up season Friday against the Miami Heat.

Justin Holiday notched a game-high 18 points for the Dubs off the bench. Nemanja Nedovic, Sunday’s starting guard for the Warriors, added 16 on 6 of 10 shooting while fellow starter Harrison Barnes pitched in 13.

The best backcourt in the NBA, Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry, got the night off from coach Steve Kerr. The absence of two of their best shooters saw the Warriors (4-2) connect on only 33 of 79 field goals.

For the Rockets (4-1), starters Dwight Howard (11), Trevor Ariza (13), James Harden (15) and Patrick Beverley (11) all broke double-digits in scoring. The Rockets committed 14 turnovers to the Warriors 21.

Golden State now sits just two match-ups away from the start of the regular season. Both contests come on home turf, with the Warriors taking on the Los Angeles Clippers Tuesday before a Friday night tilt against the Denver Nuggets.

Notes: Warriors Co-Executive Chairman and CEO Joe Lacob donated $1 million to Washington University to fund a Business of Sports program in the university’s school of business. Lacob will also deliver the first presentation in the Joseph S. Lacob Business of Sports speaker series….Sunday was the first time the Warriors didn’t break 100 points in a game this preseason…Andre Iguodala was the only expected Warrior starter who played more than 10 minutes Sunday…David Lee (10 minutes) and Andrew Bogut (9) didn’t crack the plateau, while the Splash Brothers sat out.