HALFTIME RECAP WITH HIGHLIGHTS: 2nd Unit Provides Warriors’ Separation, Curry Hits Timely Splashes, Lead Houston Rockets, 62-57

Two nights after disposing the OKC Thunder at home, the Golden State Warriors (36-6) got on a plane for the first time in 24 days to face another MVP candidate and the Houston Rockets (33-12) at Toyota Center.

The Warriors were without David West (non-displaced fracture of the left thumb). The Rockets reported no injuries but Ryan Anderson did not start due to an illness and came off the bench.

Q1: Back And Forth

Both teams did not disappoint when it came to the high pace. Montrezl Harrell got the first basket inside, while Patrick Beverley and Trevor Ariza were both on-point, hitting shots delivered by James Harden.

But Golden State kept pace. After Beverley pushed Stephen Curry’s arm out of the way on the good drive, Draymond Green leveled him with a clean screen at the other end, leading to a Curry reverse layup.

Klay Thompson hit his first bucket, then gave a nifty behind-the-back bounce pass to Green for a triple.

Kevin Durant also got into the action, abusing Beverley down low for a turnaround post-up, assisted by Draymond, then swatted Beverley on a lay-in attempt at the rim, Steph made a “hesi” move and scooped the ball in after an Ariza miss, then after Curry straddled the baseline high-wire for a save on a missed three by Harden, Green found Thompson cutting to the hoop for an easy layup with no rim protection.

Houston head coach Mike D’Antoni didn’t like what he saw and called timeout as Golden State drew first blood, 18-15, with the opening frame more than halfway overwith.

Later, Durant double-crossover’ed Harden for a beautiful lengthy scoop right side, but Harden answered with an and-one as Zaza Pachulia reached in.

James McAdoo came in, got a slam dunk after a timeout by Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, Durant hit a triple, and Steph hit a step-back three after Eric Gordon lost the ball to KD on the next play:

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That gave the Warriors a 30-22 lead with 2:20 remaining.

Curry took a heat-check a few moments later, but was short, and after some empty possessions, Matt Dekker drove inside, got a reach-in call on Ian Clark while charging into McAdoo. The bucket counted, and Dekker’s and-one free throw brought the Rockets back to within striking distance.

Later, Curry hit a long two, Andre Iguodala got blocked twice in a row, Draymond recovered and stopped Harden on the last drive…

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…but Clint Capela scored on the baseline out-of-bounds play and Golden State held a 32-29 lead heading into the second stanza.

Q2: Bench Unit Gets It Done, But Starters Go Cold

The bench unit started with McAdoo and Kevon Looney, and their aggressive double-team led to a Rockets shot clock violation.

But Klay’s lead pass to Looney wasn’t read right and Kerr took him out. Thompson added two bank shots, Gordon got blocked by Green, and Shaun Livingston hit a jumper…

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…Klay a three, and the Warriors had a little separation, 44-35.

Livingston added a swat of Beverley and at the other end, Draymond capped an 11-2 run with a triple.

Durant added two free throws for the Warriors’ largest lead at 49-35, but Beverley hit a triple in return and Pachulia made a bad pick, as he took David West’s minutes..

After a timeout, D’Antoni brought back Harden, who scored but picked up a technical in the process.

Livingston found Zaza at the rim, but Harden drew Pachulia’s fourth personal.

The Warriors went cold as Durant and Klay missed triples, and Dekker hustled for a putback, drawing the Rockets back to within 55-50 with 2:33 to play as Kerr called timeout.

Out of the timeout and the “Death Lineup” to close out, Draymond got a dunk, then Green got a steal and fed Iguodala for a breakaway slam, but Durant, Thompson, and Curry all missed again.

Luckily, Harden missed a step-back three, although Dekker got another putback to pull to within 59-57 with 28.9 seconds to go, but Steph stole the show as he stepped back for a three over Capela with 0.5 seconds left, giving Golden State a 62-57 lead at the half:

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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @spacebetweenyouandme)