The Golden State Warriors defeated the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day, recording their third-straight victory, their longest streak of the season.
This. Was. Awesome.
It appears, even coming into the game with a 7-24 record, the Golden State Warriors are still the Houston Rockets kryptonite. With a 12-point victory at home on Christmas, the Warriors are now 8-24, but the victory was so much more than just one more win.
The Warriors were led by Damion Lee, Stephen Curry‘s brother-in-law. So, while the two-time MVP couldn’t be on the court, he still has some family there to light up the Rockets. Lee scored 22 points on nine shots, hitting all ten shots from the line.
Aside from Lee, Draymond Green and D’Angelo Russell both chipped in 20 points each. All three of them combined for 62 and put in the work on the Rockets. However, it wasn’t the Warriors’ offense that made this game competitive but rather their defense.
The Warriors second-half defense held the Rockets to just 36 points. Wow. Holding the league’s second-most scoring team to just 36 points when they average just over 60 per half is incredibly impressive.
One of the league’s worst defensive teams, the Warriors gave up 68 first-half points.
It wasn’t looking pretty although the Golden State Warriors were down just a handful going into the third quarter. But, they pulled it out as Russell Westbrook has a team-high 30 points on 32 shots.
This is the Warriors’ third-straight victory after defeating the New Orleans Pelicans and the Minnesota Timberwolves. While it does get them almost out of last place, the Warriors aren’t overly close to playoff contention, and they’ll need quite a bit more to get there.
This is a good start though.
The Warriors should be aiming for the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, but having some success this season is part of the journey. It’s great to see, and hopefully, they can sustain it.