Stephen Curry scored 21 of his game-high 40 points in the fourth quarter and Andrew Wiggins chipped in 23 points as the Golden State Warriors handed the Houston Rockets their 11th consecutive home loss, 122-108 on Monday.
The Warriors earned their sixth win in a row while the Rockets dropped their fourth straight overall.
Curry, who shot 7-for-10 overall in the final frame, including 4-for-7 from 3-point range, recorded his sixth 40-point game of the season. He added five rebounds and nine assists.
Wiggins grabbed five rebounds and shot 8 of 14 for the Warriors, who hit 53.8 percent from the floor and went 17 of 40 (42.5 percent) from behind the 3-point arc.
Christian Wood (24 points, 13 rebounds) and Kevin Porter Jr. (17 points, 11 assists) posted double-doubles for the Rockets, who cut an 18-point, third-quarter deficit to four in the fourth but could not contain Curry long enough to maintain momentum.
The Rockets were undone by eight third-quarter turnovers that Golden State parlayed into 12 points. Houston clawed within 68-65 on a Porter 3-pointer at the 6:25 mark before Curry started cooking, first sinking three free throws and then a 3-pointer. He buried another trey that pushed the lead to 80-67, and when Jordan Poole hit a 3-pointer with 2:17 left in the period, the lead was 18.
However, Houston cut that margin in half by the close of the frame courtesy of 3-pointers from Porter, Eric Gordon and Josh Christopher, who beat the buzzer to pull the Rockets to within 87-78.
The Rockets started the game 0-for-7 from the floor and fell into a 10-0 hole before Jalen Green ended the scoreless start with two free throws at the 7:44 mark of the first. Wood delivered the Rockets’ first field goal, a 3-pointer just, 25 seconds later, and suddenly Houston was off and running, riding a 15-4 run that featured three Wood threes into their first lead of the contest.
Wood poured in 14 first-quarter points and the Rockets led 25-23 entering the second before the Warriors hit their stride.
Golden State answered another Wood 3-pointer with a 10-0 spurt that extended a four-point lead to 56-42 on a pair of Wiggins free throws. Wiggins sank a 20-foot step-back during the rally and added a fadeaway jumper and a 3-pointer down the stretch of the half to help the Warriors carry a 61-52 lead to the break.
Wiggins matched Wood with 17 points in the half.
–Field Level Media