The Golden State Warriors (29-2) were at Toyota Center to face the Houston Rockets (16-17).
The Warriors were without Stephen Curry for the second straight game, out with a bruised lower left leg, as well as Festus Ezeli (sore toe) and Leandro Barbosa (sprained left shoulder). Harrison Barnes (sprained left ankled) and Kevon Looney (hip surgery rehab) remained in the Bay Area.
For the Rockets, Sam Dekker (lower back pain) was out.
1st Quarter – Warriors Come Out Strong
The game got off to a slow start as both teams traded turnovers, until Dwight Howard posted up on the left block and got a jump hook over Andrew Bogut, that was answered immediately answered by Bogut on the other end with a sweeping left hook from the right block.
But the Rockets struck right back with a Clint Capela dunk down the lane assisted by Pat Beverley, then an and-one on a three from the top by James Harden as Klay Thompson got called for the touch on Harden’s elbow.
Klay broke a mini-drought with a three-pointer on the catch from the left wing assisted by Shaun Livingston, cutting the Rockets’ lead to 12-7, then went on a personal tear, scoring nine straight points to help the Warriors go up, 18-17, with 4:52 remaining before Houston head coach J.B. Bickerstaff called timeout.
Thompson’s buckets included another catch-and-shoot trey, this time delivered by Draymond Green, a left-handed drive into the lane with a fade-away on one leg over the helping Howard, a baseline jumper, and a cutting layup “and-one” against Terrence Jones, assisted by Livingston.
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After Bickerstaff’s timeout, however, Thompson missed the free throw.
The Warriors got some buckets at the rim, as Bogut capitalized on a dump pass from Green inside…
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…then Andre Iguodala lasered a pass to a cutting Draymond from a back-pick:
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On the next possession for the Rockets, Harden took some big steps down the lane and was called for elbowing Bogut in the process. The referees reviewed the play and, surprisingly, called Harden for the Flagrant One, but Bogut missed both free throws.
Klay remained hot as Ian Clark came in and threw a lob to Bogut that was about a foot short. Bogut tapped the ball back to Thompson, who took a jumper and drilled it.
After Corey Brewer hit a three, Klay came back with a catch-and-shoot triple from the right wing, giving him 17 points in the quarter, as Green got the assist.
Bogut added a one-handed alley-oop dunk on the drive-then-lob from Draymond…
Beautifully executed lob to @andrewbogut on @CSNAuthentic. #NBAVote pic.twitter.com/1V2aHej3Jx
— Golden St. Warriors (@warriors) January 1, 2016
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…James McAdoo made a layup on a cut, delivered by Marreese Speights, but the Warriors lost their momentum as Thompson and Speights played pick-and-roll and Klay left a lead pass for Speights that “Mo” wasn’t ready for, and Ty Lawson got fouled on the runout layup, with Clark doing a nice job of getting back to stop the play.
Marcus Thornton hit a catch-and-shoot trey from the left wing before the buzzer and Golden State took a slim 33-30 lead into the second stanza.
Here were some highlights from Thompson’s hot start:
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2nd Quarter – Good Play Marred By Turnovers
McAdoo continued his energy heading into the second period as he got a steal on the first possession from the Rockets, then went down the lane for a one-handed lefty dunk attempt, got fouled, but had to come out of the game after making one of two free throws as he was cut above the eye.
Green came in, passed up a wide open three, but found Iguodala cutting towards the hoop and put the ball on a rope, with Andre absorbing the harm for an “and-one” on Thornton. That gave the Warriors a 37-30 lead early on.
However, the Rockets quickly tied things up at 39-39 as Howard got an unchallenged inside bucket where Speights probably should have fouled him, then Speights tried to drive on Howard, but lost control, and Thornton ended up with a trailing three-pointer.
Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton took a timeout with 9:18 to go and the game tied up.
Livingston committed the Warriors’ ninth turnover of the half after a Howard dunk, but Clark, who had early got this cutting layup from Green…
Nice cut from Clark, better dish by Draymond. @Money23Green with 10 assists already (@CSNAuthentic). #NBAVote pic.twitter.com/jOBDkjmLrC
— Golden St. Warriors (@warriors) January 1, 2016
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…hit a three, giving Green 11 assists.
Clark added another triple…
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…and could have had one more after Trevor Ariza coughed up the ball and Iguodala tracked it down, flipping another opportunity to Clark.
With the bench led by Curry on its feet, Clark’s shot hit off rim and Harden came back with a pull-up jumper, make it 56-49, Warriors, as Walton took a timeout to calm things down.
But Bogut and Thompson committed consecutive turnovers to bring Golden State’s total to 11 and Beverley hit a three to bring Houston back to within striking range, 56-52, approaching two minutes.
With 37.4 seconds remaining, Harden baited Bogut into an “and-one” on a three-pointer, which tied the game at 59-59.
Klay came back, drawing two foul shots on an up-fake against Thornton, but Thompson missed both free throws.
Harden missed a layup with eight seconds to go, Green got the rebound, attacked in transition, and dished to Livingston for a two-hand dunk as the Rockets were on their heels:
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That gave the Warriors a 61-59 lead heading into halftime. Thompson was stuck on 17 points, but Green had amassed 12 assists, to go along with 7 points and 7 rebounds. Harden tallied 18 points and Howard had 7 rebounds. Clark scored 10 points off the bench for the Dubs.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @mkt594)
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