Bench leads fourth-quarter comeback as Warriors beat Rockets 129-114

After trailing by as many as 18 in the third quarter, the Warriors roared back in the fourth, led by their second unit, to take down the Rockets 129-1124 in Houston on Thursday night.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 34 points, six rebounds and nine assists as well as a pair of steals. Jaylen Brown scored 30 points and had 11 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season. Kris Dunn and Ky Bowman each had 14 points off the bench for the Dubs, while Dunn added nine assists. Bowman did the majority of his work from the free throw line, going 8-for-9 from the charity stripe.

Russell Westbrook set an NBA record in the loss for Houston, attempting 50 field goals, making 19 of them. Westbrook finished with 47 points to lead the Rockets, going 9-for-26 from beyond the arc.

The Warriors fell down by 12 with 2:54 to play in the third, the Dubs meticulously chipped away at the lead. Led by Kris Dunn and Ky Bowman, Golden State managed to cut the lead to just six, the same deficit they faced at halftime, headed to the fourth.

Bowman and Damion Lee then began orchestrating the comeback. It began with Bowman driving on the opening possession of the quarter and drawing a foul on Gorgui Dieng, nailing both free throws to make the deficit four. Then, a defensive stop allowed the Warriors to get running in transition, opening a lane for Lee to find Kevon Looney for a cutting dunk. A second consecutive defensive hold led to another Warrior transition attack, with Lee driving into the lane only to find Looney trailing for a game-tying alley oop.

The Warrior bench wasn’t done there. A third defensive stand gave the Warriors a chance to take the lead, and they didn’t fail to capitalize. Daniel Gafford got James Harden on a mismatch, and Bowman promptly found him underneath the right side of the hoop. Using an athletic half-spin, Gafford opened a lane for himself and went underneath the hoop for a reverse finishing, capping an 8-0 run and giving the Dubs the lead.

Harden would manage to tie the game on the following possession after a Rockets timeout, but Curry gave the Warriors the lead for good on a driving layup the next time down. The Dubs extended the lead to four, only to watch Westbrook nail a triple and make it a one-point game. Green responded, and then Curry broke his cold-streak from beyond the arc, nailing a three that gave the Warriors the breathing room they needed to begin pulling away.

Up Next

The Warriors travel to San Antonio on Friday night to face the Spurs in the second game of a back-to-back set.

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