The Golden State Warriors have blown a 14-point second-half lead to fall a visiting Houston Rockets team minus Kevin Durant at Chase Center on Wednesday night.
If the 104-100 loss wasn't agonizing enough for the Warriors, they've been left with a major injury concern on 2x MVP Stephen Curry who was hobbling around for a significant period in the fourth-quarter before heading back to the locker room in the final minute.
Warriors will sweat on a Stephen Curry injury concern after another loss
Curry was clearly well below his best and plagued by a physical ailment particularly down the stretch, having finished with just 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the floor and 2-of-9 from 3-point range with a game-high six turnovers.
Golden State led 59-47 at half-time but were restricted to 41 points in the final 24 minutes, while the hosts were unable to contain another young guard in Reed Sheppard who had a career-high 31 points and nine rebounds in his team's comeback victory.
The Warriors were otherwise steady defensively for most of the night, albeit the Rockets were without a huge piece in Durant. Houston shot less than 40% from the floor and only 28.2% from 3-point range, yet they had an extraordinary 25 offensive rebounds even without veteran center Steven Adams who was also absent through injury.
After giving up so many offensive boards and turning the ball over on 16 occasions, it's a wonder how Golden State led for the entire game until the final period. Jimmy Butler did his thing with 21 points, five rebounds and five assists on 6-of-11 shooting and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line, while rookie guard Will Richard had 18 points and six assists on 7-of-12 shooting.
The Warriors started small with Richard back in the starting lineup and Draymond Green at the five, with the latter flirting with a triple-double in a 12-point, nine-rebound, eight-assist performance. Green also defended Alperun Sengun to a high level, limiting the Rockets star to 7-of-18 shooting from the floor, though he did make an important fade-away jump-shot in the final minute.
Brandin Podziemski had 14 points, four rebounds and two assists off the bench, but also missed some critical free throws in the final minutes. Quinten Post added 12 points, five rebounds and three steals, yet shot just 1-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Curry will now get an MRI with what the franchise is calling a quad contusion, with the Warriors set to face the New Orleans Pelicans at home again on Saturday.