Photo credit: @ESPNStatsInfo

By: Ana Kieu

The Golden State Warriors were looking to sweep their five-game road trip in Saturday’s primetime game against the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center.

The NBA on ABC/ESPN pregame hosts counted down JaVale McGee’s top 10 plays, Klay Thompson signed some autographs for the fans, and then the Warriors walked onto their court, sporting their “The Town” jerseys.

Both teams entered the building as two of the best Western Conference squads, but the Rockets started off on a high note, making five of their first six shots. The Warriors were down 14-7 early in the first quarter. Golden State continued to make shots to pick themselves up off the ground.

However, the Rockets had a high-scoring first quarter, and they led the Warriors 40-28.
Houston shot 15-for-22 from the field and 7-for-11 from the 3-point line.

Warriors’ Nick Young had some solid production off the bench, hitting each of his first three shots early in the second quarter. Also, David West did his thing, shooting 4-for-4 from the field for a total of eight points.

James Harden and Chris Paul put in some work. With less than two minutes left in the quarter, Steph Curry hit a three, but the Warriors continued to trail the Rockets 65-58 at the half. Harden and Paul combined for 30 first-half points.

Here are the Warriors’ halftime stats:

Warriors’ Kevin Durant made a high-impact play, a 4-point play, to open up the second half. Durant also dished a pass to Draymond Green to set up a 1-on-1 opportunity. In addition, Curry hit a 3-pointer to help out the Warriors.

The Warriors made it a game as they pulled within one, 92-91, at the end of the third quarter. Rockets’ P.J. Tucker came up big in the quarter.

Green tied the score with a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter. The Warriors were down by 17, but went up to 4 (104-100) with 6:45 left in the quarter.

Prior to the timeout, the Rockets led the Warriors 111-108 with 2:17 left in regulation. Houston continued to flip the switch as Harden hit a 3-pointer for a 114-108 lead over Golden State. Then, Paul made a pair of free throws with 28.2 seconds left.

Both Curry and Young missed their final 3-point shots, and the Warriors lost to the Rockets 116-108. With the loss, Golden State’s 14-game road win streak and 4-game overall win streak.

Notes
Warriors’ injury update: Andre Iguodala (left calf contusion) is out.

Former Warriors player Jason Richardson turned 37 today. He played for the Warriors for six seasons from 2001 to 2007.

When asked about closing out the road trip in Houston, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told the local media: “It’s a good way to close the trip…it should be a fun atmosphere.”

Warriors’ Steph Curry made his 600th career regular season start tonight in his 606th career regular season game.

Warriors’ Draymond Green has his fourth 20-point game of the season with 21 points; his third 20-point performance in his last six games.

Up Next
The Warriors return home for a three-game homestand. They’ll first host the Knicks this coming Tuesday at 7:30 pm PT.