HOUSTON – Warriors coach, Steve Kerr, did not mince words before the Warriors advanced to Thursday night’s game against the Rockets at the Toyota Center.
“It’s possible that this team was beaten the way I’ve been in the 12 years I’ve been playing with the Warriors,” said Kerr. “I see it as a big challenge, but it’s also a good opportunity for the young players to get better, to play more, to take on more responsibility.”
Aside from the usual suspects Steph Curry (runner’s knee) and Kristaps Porzingis (illness), Golden State had three replacement players in Moses Moody (wrist), Gary Payton II (ankle) and Will Richard (ankle) for the Warriors’ first game in Houston since winning Game 7 of last spring’s first-round series.
What was left of that scrappy outfit managed a 115-113 overtime victory against former Warrior Kevin Durant and a Rockets supporting cast dedicated to turning basketball games into rock wars.
Trailing with 45 seconds left in regulation, Al Horford buried a corner three to give the Warriors a 101-99 lead, and Alperen Sengun responded 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 on De’Anthony Melton’s shooting wrist as the Warriors took a shot that went wide. After a 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 with a 3-pointer. The deadly shooter missed his third free throw to help the Warriors hold on to within one point, and Melton pushed the advantage to three with a putback with five seconds left.
The Warriors closed things out from there, and the result was a two-game winning streak for Golden State.
Brandin Podziemski scored seven of his team-high 26 points in overtime, Melton poured in 23 points and Gui Santos had 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 native Amen Thompson scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Reed Sheppard led all scorers with 30.
As usual, the Rockets outshot the Warriors 49-47, despite leading the league in rebounds per game (48.1).
The Warriors started fast, leading 30-20 after one quarter. Melton scored 10 points early, and Pat Spencer came off the bench and made it a point to attack Sheppard with drives en route to the visitors’ first 18 points in the paint.
The Rockets found their groove in the second half, at least offensively, with a 10-0 run to tie things at 45 all. Santos made fifteen layups to end the half with the Warriors trailing 51-47. The Rockets found their momentum in the third, outscoring Golden State 35-30 to take an 82-81 lead into a wild fourth quarter.
The Warriors (32-30) play in conference-leading Oklahoma City on Saturday.
LJ Cryer returns to Houston
LJ Cryer grabbed his streak after hitting four of his 3-pointers. And following the rest of the season, the Rockets crowd broke with tradition and applauded the visiting guard. How could they not give toys to one of them?
In front of a hometown crowd, the Houston-area native tested out his first game since Jan. 25 and scored 12 points in 20 minutes. Cryer has been dealing with a hamstring injury, but was able to play at the Toyota Center in front of a few fans.
After a stellar career at Katy High and Baylor University, Cryer spent his final two years playing for the University of Houston.
There, he averaged 15.6 points per game and was named to the 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 got a shot up
The pregame shooting practice drew a higher-than-usual level of interest in Houston. Both Kristaps Porzingis and Seth Curry received shots about an hour and a half before tipoff, which was Porzingis’ first public appearance since being diagnosed with the disease two weeks ago.
The center did not make the team’s previous two-game trip to New Orleans and Memphis, but has resumed basketball practice over the past few days.
“There is no timetable (for his return) but he is on a journey, and he was able to practice today and take it day by day from here,” Kerr said. “It’s great that he’s here and feels he’s recovered enough to be on the tour, and hopefully that’ll bode well for him playing soon.”
It was also Seth Curry’s first preseason game in months, prompting the coaching staff to include the injured guard in multiple practices. Curry has only been fit for two games and has not played since early December, suffering from sciatica.
