The Warriors lost a nail-biter, falling 132-127 in double overtime to the visiting Houston Rockets on Thursday night. Kevin Durant tied a season-high with 39 points and Draymond Green just missed a triple-double with 20 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, but Golden State ran out of gas in the second extra period and saw their 12-game winning streak come to an end. With the loss, the Warriors drop to 16-3 on the season.
Golden State was in it till the very end of Thursday’s double overtime thriller, but spent the vast majority of the elongated game attempting to work their way out of a deficit. After Stephen Curry scored his only two points of the first quarter to even the score at 4-4, Houston went on a 9-0 run, prompting Steve Kerr to call a timeout just under three minutes into the game. Golden State hit the reset button and responded with an 11-2 burst of their own, ignited by a phenomenal block from Kevin Durant.
The final six of those Warriors’ points came on three consecutive Draymond Green layups, the last of which put Golden State back in front with 5:22 left in the frame. Golden State would build their lead as large as four, but James Harden drew two fouls on Curry in a span of five seconds, forcing him to return to the bench with 2:53 remaining. The Rockets took advantage of the MVP’s absence, closing out the frame on a 9-5 run to take a slim 32-30 lead into the second.
GAME LEADERS
Curry returned to the score sheet and converted his only other field goal of the first half with a three-pointer that gave Golden State a 44-43 lead just under five minutes into the second quarter. Ryan Anderson would put Houston back in front with a trey of his own with 5:31 left, and after Kevin Durant briefly tied the score with a layup on the ensuing possession, the Warriors would go on to trail for the remainder of the half. Houston would score the game’s next six points in a sequence that included technical fouls assessed to both Steve Kerr and Draymond Green. The Dubs would trim the deficit in half from there before Anderson’s layup with one second left sent the game into halftime with Golden State trailing 64-59. Durant led all scorers with 19 points at the game’s midway point, but Houston held the lead thanks to a 10-0 advantage in second chance points.
Golden State made only one of their first 13 shots of the second half, allowing the Rockets to increase their lead to double-digits on Harden’s three-pointer with 6:28 left in the third quarter. Durant would end the drought with a three-pointer 38 seconds later, and after Trevor Ariza converted a layup on the ensuing Rockets’ possession, Curry answered with seven consecutive points to pull the Warriors within two with just over four minutes remaining in the frame.
Andre Iguodala would split free throws to cut the deficit to one, but Golden State would have to wait until the fourth quarter to crest the hill, as Houston would score the next four points and eventually take a 86-82 lead into the final frame of regulation.
Durant brought the Warriors within one once again with a three-pointer to open the fourth quarter scoring, and after the Rockets had rebuilt their lead to seven points, Golden State responded with a 7-0 run to pull even at 97-97 on Green’s layup with 5:09 remaining. The Dubs would finally retake the lead on Green’s dunk one minute later, and would expand their advantage to three with two Curry free throws on the ensuing possession.
That’s as large as it would get, however, as the two sides would trade baskets until Harden’s three-pointer fell short with two seconds left to send the game into the first of two extra periods with the score deadlocked at 113-113.
With only 13 points scored through the first three quarters, Curry added nine to his total in the fourth and carried that momentum into the first overtime period, scoring Golden State’s first six points to take a four-point lead.
The Dubs would maintain an advantage until Eric Gordon knotted things up at 121-121 with a three-pointer with 1:24 left in the frame. After Sam Dekker put Houston temporarily back in front with a lay-in, Klay Thompson drained a turnaround jumper on the ensuing possession to tie things up for the 13th and final time and send the game to the second overtime.
Both sides were clearly fatigued, as neither managed to score until Harden broke through with a three-pointer with 3:12 remaining in double OT. That would put Golden State in a hole they’d be unable to dig themselves out of, as the Dubs missed their first eight shots of the frame. By the time Draymond Green converted a layup with 20 seconds remaining, it was too little, too late, as Houston managed to close out the eventual 132-127 victory.
The double-overtime marathon featured a combined 88 three-point attempts between the two teams, breaking the NBA record of 82 set by the Rockets and Kings last week. With the loss, Golden State drops to 16-3 on the season and will attempt to get back on track when they host the Phoenix Suns on Saturday.