DeMarcus Cousins had himself a night and Klay Thompson splashed his way to a 30-point night in the Dubs' 106-104 win over the Rockets.
TEAM LEADERS
The Warriors have endured a tough stretch over the last month, but Wednesday’s 106-104 win in Houston had to feel pretty good. Playing without Kevin Durant, the Dubs put together a complete performance and held on in the end in the opener of a four-game road trip.
DeMarcus Cousins had a big night with season-highs of 27 points and seven assists, and Klay Thompson splashed his way into NBA history as the Dubs put an end to Houston’s nine-game winning streak on their home floor.
Although the Dubs pushed their advantage to 14 in the fourth quarter, they had to grit and grind to to protect that advantage. Houston rallied down the stretch, getting within one point on a 13-2 run with just over 10 seconds left in the game. Stephen Curry made a pair of free throws to push the lead back to three, then the Dubs fouled James Harden on the other end of the floor to prevent a potential game-tying three-point attempt. Harden would make his first free throw and miss the second. Andre Iguodala, starting in place of Durant (sprained right ankle), wound up with the loose ball and time expired on the Dubs’ first win over Houston in four tries this season.
Cousins started the game strong and finished stronger. He had five points and three assists in the opening minutes as the Dubs made six of their first eight shots, all of which were assisted. But in the third quarter, Cousins really started to take control. He tallied 10 points in the period and added 10 more in the fourth to finish out a night in which he went 11-for-16 from the floor.
While Cousins was turning in a highly efficient performance, Klay Thompson stepped up with some key baskets of his own. The Splash Brother made five 3-pointers for a game-high 30 points. In the process, he surpassed 200 3-pointers for the season, making him the second player in league history – Curry was the first – to have at least 200 3-pointers in seven straight seasons. Additionally, Thompson finished the night with 1,760 career 3-pointers, which is tied with Peja Stojakovic for the 18th most all-time.
Curry had three 3-pointers of his own on a 24-point night, putting an end to his 12-game streak with at least four made treys. That streak falls one game short of the league record set earlier this season by James Harden (13), who still tallied 29 points to lead the Rockets despite going 2-for-12 from beyond the arc on Wednesday.
After beating a red-hot team to start this road trip, the Dubs will be tasked with another tough test on Saturday when they face the Thunder.
More notables from the win:
- The Warriors improved to 46-21 (.687), the top mark in the Western Conference, and 22-11 on the road (.667) this season—tied with the Milwaukee Bucks (24-12, .667) for the best road win percentage in the league… Golden State has won 18 of its last 22 road games and has now won at least 22 games on the road in each of the last six seasons… Golden State’s 22 road wins rank as the eighth-most in franchise history.
- The Warriors earned their first win against the Rockets this season, with Houston winning the first three games of the four-game season series… Golden State has not been swept in a four-game season series since the Spurs won all four against them in 2013-14.
- Golden State made all 10 of its free throws for a season-high 100 percent at the line.
- The Warriors improved to 6-4 this season in games decided by two-points-or-fewer.
- Tonight marked the 22nd time the Warriors have had three 20-point scorers in the same game this season (Klay Thompson – 30; DeMarcus Cousins – 27; Stephen Curry – 24), improving to 17-5 in those games.
- Tonight’s game marked the first of a four-game road trip for the Warriors, who have finished with a record of .500-or-better on all 17 road trips since the beginning of the 2014-15 season… The Warriors will next play at Oklahoma City on Saturday (5:30 p.m. PDT) before finishing the road trip with a back-to-back in San Antonio and Minnesota.
- Klay Thompson recorded his 12th 30-point game of the season with 30 points to go with six rebounds, his third-straight game as Golden State’s leading scorer… With five threes (5-of-10 3FG), Thompson now has 203 threes this season, joining Stephen Curry as the only players in NBA history to hit at least 200 three-pointers in seven-straight seasons… Thompson is now tied with Peja Stojakovic (1,760 career threes) for 17th place on the NBA’s all-time threes list.
- DeMarcus Cousins set season highs with 27 points, 11 made field goals (11-of-16 FG) and seven assists to go with eight rebounds in 32 minutes, his fifth 20-point game of the season.
- Stephen Curry finished with 24 points, including 13 in the opening frame, to go with five assists and four rebounds.
- Andre Iguodala made his 12th start of the season and first since Dec. 7 at Milwaukee, finishing with three points, five rebounds and four assists… Iguodala sealed the game with a rebound with 4.4 seconds remaining.