By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, January 17, 2015

Stephan Curry and Klay Thompson each canned 27 points Saturday, and Golden State used a huge third quarter to pull away for a 131-106 NBA Western Conference victory over Houston at Toyota Center.

After losing to Oklahoma City on Friday, the win is the Warriors’ ninth in their last 10 games.

Curry also had seven rebounds and 11 assists for Golden State (32-6), while getting strong bench efforts from David Lee (18 points and eight boards) and Marreese Speights (15 points, five rebounds and three assists). Thompson also shined defensively, holding Rockets star James Harden to 11 points.

Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Warriors.

Houston (28-13) was led by Dwight Howard’ 23 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Donatas Motiejunas contributed 14 points and seven rebounds and Josh Smith added 14 points for the Rockets.

The Warriors outrebounded Houston 49-39 and had the edge in field goal shooting, hitting 55 percent (50 of 91) while the Rockets hit 42 percent (37 of 88).

Golden State used a 38-point third quarter to build a 22-point lead. Houston’s Kostas Papanikolaou scored five straight points to pull the Rockets to within 110-94 with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The Warriors responded with a nine-point run, allowing them to cruise to their 32nd win.

The Warriors return home to host Denver on Monday.