The Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets met on a Friday night matchup at fully packet Oracle Arena. It was their second meeting this week, and the Warriors were able to take the win once again. Houston has now lost three games in a row since beating the Oklahoma City Thunder five days ago.
Curry and Thompson carried the Warriors once again
Houston started the game well, leading 25-23 after the first quarter. Score at halftime was 61-56 in favor of the visting team. By the end of the third quarter it was a tie game at 83-83 and then it was all Warriors in the last 12 minutes of the game.
It was their defense that won them this big game, since they held the Rockets to only 13 points in the fourth quarter.
Last years' MVP, Stephen Curry, finished the game with 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Klay Thompson added 20 points to go along with eight rebounds. Curry and Thompson combined for eight of Warriors' 11 made "threes".
In a postgame interview Curry said: "We're focused on ourselves and how we're playing, and this was a good test for us. We took care of business. With six games left in the season we understand the moment."
Andre Iguodala helped with 14, while JaVale McGee chipped in 13 points of the bench.
Another tough night for James Harden
Houston Rockets' superstar James Harden had another tough shooting night, as he shot only 4-18 from the field.
He added 12 rebounds and eight assists but he also had six turnovers. Harden was just 2-9 from the three point line.
Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala did a great job of keeping Harden out of rythm. "We had plenty of opportunities tonight, but just didn't make shots. They made some big shots and that's it. They are a great team." said Harden in a postgame interview.
For the Rockets Eric Gordon and Trevor Ariza each scored 15 points but it was not enough.
With this win on Friday night, the Warriors remain the number one team in the Western Conference and with the best record in the league they will have home court advantage through this year's playoffs.
