Warriors Top Rockets In Impressive Overtime Win
By Eric He
In a game filled with ups-and-downs, the Golden State Warriors’ resiliency paid off in a 102-99 overtime win over the Houston Rockets at Oracle Arena on Thursday night. Image: USA TODAY Sports
In a game filled with ups-and-downs, the Golden State Warriors’ resiliency paid off in a 102-99 overtime win over the Houston Rockets at Oracle Arena on Thursday night.
The victory, which snapped the Rockets’ eight-game win streak, featured a thrilling conclusion to regulation. With the game tied at 87-87, James Harden hit a step-back jumper over Klay Thompson to give the Rockets the lead with six seconds to play. But, after a timeout, Stephen Curry came right back, driving to the basket and making a tough lay-up to the tie the game.
In overtime, the Warriors immediately jumped ahead on an open three by Curry, and buckled down on defense. Holding on a to a 96-95 lead with 23 seconds remaining, Jermaine O’Neal made the play of the night, blocking a dunk attempt by Chandler Parsons to save the day. The Rockets were then forced to foul, and the Warriors converted on their free throws, ultimately grinding out the win.
Golden State was led by 28 points and 14 rebounds from David Lee and 25 points from Curry. And in his Warriors’ debut, Steve Blake played 18 minutes and shot 1-for-4 from the field. He received a standing ovation from the crowd upon checking into the game.
On defense, the Warriors held the Rockets to just 36.6 percent shooting. Even more impressively, O’Neal and company limited Dwight Howard to just 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Without Andrew Bogut, that is quite a defensive effort against arguably the best center in the game. Houston was paced by 39 points from James Harden and 21 from Chandler Parsons.
The Warriors led for a majority of the first half, taking a 47-43 lead into halftime and maintaining the advantage into the fourth quarter. However, the Rockets began the fourth on a 10-4 run to take a 77-75 lead, and it was anybody’s game from there.
Fortunately, the Warriors decided that they would not come up short on their home court on this night.
Tale of the Tape
Warriors
- Field-goal percentage: 39.8% (37-93)
- Three-point percentage: 33.3% (9-27)
- Rebounds: 49
- Assists: 18
- Turnovers: 12
- Bench points: 24
Rockets
- Field-goal percentage: 38.6% (37-101)
- Three-point percentage: 30.0% (9-30)
- Rebounds: 60
- Assists: 24
- Turnovers: 12
- Bench points: 23
Quotable
Jackson: "Holding that team shooting under 40 percent - and this is on a back-to-back ... I'm proud of my guys."
— Marcus Thompson II (@ThompsonScribe) February 21, 2014
The Two Types of Warriors Fans
The #FireMarkJackson dude:
@ThompsonScribe jackson: "winning a game despite all of my dlee isos play calls. im proud of my team"
— aaron kwon (@a_kwon) February 21, 2014
The realistic dude:
Seriously, Warriors fans? Your team just beat the hottest team in the NBA that was riding an eight-game win streak by playing tough defense and hitting big shots in the fourth quarter and overtime. What more can you ask for? Does running iso plays for David Lee irk you that much?
Ok, that’s enough venting after a win.
Good to Know
On 2nd night of back-to-back.... RT @BASportsGuy: Jermaine O'Neal played over 37 minutes for the first time since 3/18/10.
— Dan Martinez (@dmar) February 21, 2014
What’s on Tap
The Warriors will take on the Nets on Saturday night in their final home game before embarking on a seven-game road trip.