Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) tries to keep the ball away from the Houston Rockets guard Fred VanFleet (left) at the Houston Toyota Center in Houston on Sun Oct 29, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Houston Rockets are a much better team than they were last season and will no doubt win more than 22 games. They hung tight with the Golden State Warriors until the fourth quarter. That is when Warriors guard Stephen Curry went nuts hitting four three’s in a row in the fourth and locked down this win for the Warriors 106-95.

The Golden State Warriors (2-1) took on the Houston Rockets (0-3) Sunday evening with a full roster which included the long awaited return of Draymond Green. His return had been changing hourly it seemed but it finally arrived in today’s game. The Warriors on the road played their second road game of the young season after beating the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center 122-114 last Friday night. They got road win number two.

The Warriors won both quarters in the first half, leading after two 57-47. Golden State won the opening quarter 26-24, a close one. Golden State put some distance in this game at the half winning the second quarter 31-23. There was of course, after so much time away from the game, the question of how much time Green would play. It was minimal, 21 minutes by game’s end.

The Rockets continued to hang in this game winning the third quarter 28-24. The game got very interesting in the final quarter. The Rockets tied up the game with 8:30 left in the game 85-85 and Houston took the lead 87-85 at 6:42. Houston refused to go away.

At 5:09 the Curry show got underway and when all was said and done he had shot four three’s in a row in an amazing display. The fourth three amazed even Curry himself.

Golden State began to distance themselves from the Rockets 102-93 with less than a minute left on the clock and the Warriors would win their second road game in a row 106-95. It is of course early in the season but considering their road record last year these two road wins are a thing of beauty.

The Warriors displayed what they are best know for, ball movement and player movement. It was not a great first three quarters for Curry until the fourth quarter came along. He finished with 24 points and seven rebounds and of course the four shots from downtown in the fourth quarter shut down the Rockets eliminating any hope for a Houston win.

Klay Thompson was hot in the opening quarters which kept the Warriors in the game. He had 19 points and four rebounds. Gary Payton 11 was also instrumental in the first half finishing with 15 points and three rebounds.

This is the hallmark of Golden State; when one player is slow to start there is always that player that “steps up to the plate” and in this game it was the combination of Thompson and Gary Payton 11.

The welcomed return of Green was just another highlight seeing him for the first time this season. He had four points and five rebounds demonstrating what he does so well, setting up shots for the team.

Head Coach Steve Kerr was pleased with Green’s effort in this game. He was a bit shaky in the first half but came on strong in the second half especially the third quarter. As Kerr put it “it will take some time to shake the rust off.” With this being the first time he has played all season it was all in all a nice effort.

The high score for the Rockets came from Jalen Green with 21 points. Jalen Green also had a great defensive game finishing with 9 rebounds. This was Houston’s third loss in a row not yet having won a game this season.

The Warriors continue on the road next traveling to Smoothie King Center to take on Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans Monday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:00 PM PT.