A night after Steve Kerr admitted he should have sent double-teams at Kyrie Irving sooner, the Warriors had a much more pointed game plan to beat Houston.
Golden State dared Houston to shoot jumpers, mixing in zones and sagging off their shooters to negate the young Rockets’ elite athletes. They prevented the Rockets from getting in transition by muscling their way to the foul line and taking care of the ball. And they kept Houston from dominating the boards by committing to gang rebounding.
The strategy was sound, and built a 24-point lead. Then, when their big advantage evaporated as their tank emptied, the Warriors had just enough to close out the Rockets.
Brandin Podziemski (18 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals) and Moses Moody (10 points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks) set the tone and the Warriors’ veterans came up big down the stretch in a 105-98 victory.
Steph Curry dropped 27 points and the Warriors (28-27) held the Rockets under 100 points and to below 40% shooting. They can rest their heavy legs at home for the All-Star break, which is coming to the Bay Area for the first time since 2000.
To cap a six-game road trip, the Warriors arrived in Houston at 3 a.m. for the second game of a back-to-back. Despite the quick turnaround after a deflating loss to the short-handed Mavericks, the Warriors had all their healthy players available.
The Warriors shook up their starting lineup, replacing Buddy Hield — who’s had one of the worst shooting seasons of his career — with Podziemski. Podziemski started alongside Curry, Moody, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green in a small-ball lineup.
Golden State’s 33rd distinct starting-five matches Philadelphia for the league-high, an indicator of how much searching Kerr has done all year.
It was the first time all five starters scored in double figures this season. But no matter who Kerr tapped to start, the rest disadvantage was always going to send the Warriors on an uphill climb in Houston. One of the oldest teams in the league, Golden State needed its young players — and their fresher legs — to step up.
Moody answered the call. He swatted two shots, took a charge on Alperen Sengun and scored six quick points to prevent the Warriors from sleepwalking through the first quarter. Podziemski also snared a pick-six steal and scored 14 quick points, lifting his veterans on both ends.
The Warriors, knowing Houston is a weak outside shooting team, stifled the Rockets with zone defense and took an early 38-22 lead.
Moody tipped home a missed 3, reaching double-digit points for the 13th time in his last 15 games. His and Podziemski’s energy jolted Golden State and bided time for Curry to find his legs. He dropped 12 points in the second quarter — including a four-point play — helping the Warriors to a 14-point halftime edge.
Butler hit his first 3-pointer as a Warrior and Curry matched him to give the Warriors their biggest advantage of the night, 74-53.
With that 21-point lead, Moody appeared to injure his shoulder on a drive, but still dove on the floor to pick up a loose ball. It was the type of energy required to overcome the adverse circumstances.
Still, the Warriors started to leak oil to end the third quarter. Fatigue appeared to set in. Houston closed on a 13-1 run in the last four minutes, trimming a 24 point lead in half.
Houston finally broke through on the glass and took advantage of Golden State’s bench units. Kerr called a timeout three minutes into the fourth quarter with a seven-point lead. Nine minutes is a lot of time to run out the clock. You can’t play prevent defense in basketball.
Curry drilled a 3 to stem a Houston surge with seven minutes left and Podziemski euro-stepped his way into the lane for a tough bucket. The Warriors couldn’t rebound out of their zone defense, but clung to a lead nevertheless.
Curry set a back-screen for Butler, freeing the new Warrior for a wide open bucket by leveraging his gravity to put Golden State back up nine. Podziemski snatched a steal and Green, sensing the moment, nailed a 3 from above the break.
The young guys’ fresh legs built the lead, and the veterans brought it home.
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