“This is probably as beaten a team as I’ve ever seen in my 12 years with the Warriors,” Kerr said. “I see it as a great challenge, but also a great opportunity for the young players to get better, play more and take more responsibility.”
Aside from the usual suspects Steph Curry (runner’s knee) and Kristaps Porzingis (illness), Golden State was down three rotation players: Moses Moody (wrist), Gary Payton II (ankle) and Will Richard (ankle) in the Warriors’ first game in Houston since winning Game 7 of last spring’s first-round playoff series.
What remained of that mangled team somehow managed to pull out a 115-113 overtime win against former Warrior Kevin Durant and a supporting Rockets cast that specializes in turning basketball games into rock battles.
Trailing by one with 45 seconds left in regulation, Al Horford buried a corner three to give the Warriors a 101-99 lead, then Alperen Sengun answered by hitting a hook shot over Horford to tie the game with 27 seconds left.
With 6.5 seconds left, Durant was called for a foul when he hit the shooting wrist of De’Anthony Melton as the Warrior fired a fadeaway. After the replay review showed Durant hit the ball first, the call was overturned. The Warriors won the jump ball but were unable to score, sending the game into overtime.
The Warriors led 113-110 with 30 seconds left in overtime, but Melton fouled Durant on a three-pointer. The usually deadeye shooter missed his third free throw to help the Warriors maintain a one-point lead, then Melton pushed the lead to three on a putback layup with five seconds left.
The Warriors closed things out from there, and the result snapped a two-game skid for Golden State.
Brandin Podziemski scored seven of his team-high 26 points in overtime, Melton scored 23 points and Gui Santos scored 14. Draymond Green had 10 points, eight assists and did a great job guarding both Sengun and Durant.
Durant scored 22 for the Rockets, San Leandro’s Amen Thompson scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and reserve Reed Sheppard led all scorers with 30.
As usual, the Rockets defeated the Warriors 49-47, albeit barely for a team that leads the league in boards per game (48.1).
The Warriors got off to a fast start and led 30-20 after one quarter. Melton scored 10 early points, while Pat Spencer came off the bench and made a point of attacking Sheppard on drives en route to 18 early points in the paint for the visitors.
The Rockets found their footing in the second half, at least offensively, going on a 10-0 run to tie the score at 45. Santos made a pair of nifty layups to end the half with the Warriors leading 51-47. The Rockets found their groove in the third, outscoring Golden State 35-30 and taking a slim 82-81 lead into the wild fourth quarter.
The Warriors (32-30) play at conference-best Oklahoma City on Saturday.
LJ Cryer returns to Houston
LJ Cryer held on after each of his four three-point plays. And after each swing, the Rockets crowd broke tradition and applauded the visiting guard. How could they not give props to one of them?
In front of his hometown crowd, the Houston native checked in for his first game since Jan. 25 and scored 12 points in 20 minutes. Cryer had suffered a hamstring injury but was able to play in front of some loved ones at the Toyota Center.
After a stellar career at Katy High and Baylor University, Cryer spent his final two collegiate years playing for the University of Houston.
There he averaged 15.6 points per game and was named to an All-American team while leading the Cougars to the 2025 title game, which Houston lost to Will Richard’s Florida Gators.
After a stellar summer league and preseason as an undrafted free agent, Cryer lit up the G-League and earned a two-way contract with the Warriors.
Porzingis, Curry, shoot up
Pregame shooting drills received more attention than usual in Houston. Both Kristaps Porzingis and Seth Curry received shots about an hour and a half before tip-off. It was Porzingis’ first public appearance since being ruled out two weeks ago due to an illness.
The center did not make the previous two-game road trip to New Orleans and Memphis, but has resumed basketball activities in recent days.
“No timeline (for his return), but he’s traveling, and he was able to train today and take it day by day from here,” Kerr said. “It’s great that he’s here and feeling well enough to travel, and hopefully that bodes well for him to play soon.”
It was also Seth Curry’s first pregame sighting in months, with the coaching staff putting the injured guard through a series of drills. Curry has only suited up for two games and hasn’t played since early December because he was dealing with sciatica.
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