Curry-less Warriors Fall to Rockets, Lead 2-1

The Golden State Warriors were without Stephen Curry once again and lost Game 3 on a James Harden game winner.

You can only win so much without your MVP as the Golden State Warriors fell to the Houston Rockets without Stephen Curry. The Warriors lead the series 2-1 as a James Harden winner won this one 97-96.

Curry missed his second consecutive game with an ankle injury. The Warriors were able to manage without him in Game 2, beating Houston in Oracle Arena. The Rockets were heavily criticized following that loss. Harden and Dwight Howard could not afford to lose this one on their home court without Curry playing. Everyone waited in anticipation to see if the superstar guard could go, but Steve Kerr announced right before the game that he wouldn’t be on the court in this one.

With their backs against the wall, the Rockets came out swinging, dropping 31 points in the first period. They attacked the rim relentlessly, either finding Howard for an open alley-oop or drawing a foul. The Warriors got into foul trouble early as both of their centers, Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli picked up two early fouls. Harden was doing whatever he could to keep his team in it as he took Andre Iguodala off the dribble and spun him around before hitting a step back jumper. The Warriors were not in control early on.

The first quarter was huge for Houston and it was what eventually did the Warriors in. Golden State won every quarter for the rest of the game. Klay Thompson, who had 34 points in Game 2, struggled mightily in this one. He struggled to get into a rhythm early and then continued to force up bad shots including two crucial ones in the fourth quarter. Off a timeout, the Warriors inbounded the ball and he took a leaning midrange jumper that was blocked. The Warriors grabbed the offensive rebound and he pulled up from 30 feet. Thompson shot 7-20, missing all seven of his three-point shots.

These two teams don’t like each other and it was clear. Early in the game, Bogut grabbed Howard’s arm to intentionally foul him. The Houston big man took exception to it and threw the ball at Bogut, earning himself a technical foul. He exchanged words with Marreese Speights on the very next play. The physicality level was high in this one up until the very last play when Green and Michael Beasley were nearly hugging each other.

In Curry’s absence and Thompson’s struggles, several role players stepped up in this one. Speights scored a team-high 22 points, hitting three shots from beyond the arc in the second quarter including one from the corner to beat the buzzer. Ian Clark had a great fourth quarter after struggling early in the game. He finished +10 with 11 points, including a clutch layup right before Harden’s game winner.

After the Clark layup, the Rockets decided not to take a timeout. Iguodala matched up with the Player’s MVP who drove, pushed off, and hit the short midrange shot. Kerr took time and ran a questionable play. Thompson was inbounding the ball and threw it into Draymond Green 40 feet away from the basket. It looked as if Thompson was going to set a screen for Speights to pop up and get a jumper, but the play never developed as Green never caught the ball and lost it out of bounds.

The Warriors will look to take a 3-1 lead on Sunday, hopefully with Curry back in the lineup.