Stephen Curry heats up late as Warriors ground Rockets

Stephen Curry scored 14 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, burying four late 3-pointers that helped the Golden State Warriors secure a 106-95 win over the host Houston Rockets on Sunday.

After the Rockets secured their first lead since late in the first quarter on a driving layup from Jalen Green with 6:42 left in the game, the Warriors reclaimed the advantage at 88-87 when Draymond Green scored through a foul. Green missed the ensuing free throw, but the Warriors corralled the offensive rebound and Curry followed with a three at the 5:09 mark that pushed the lead to 91-87.

Curry followed with three more threes, the final one with 3:19 left, lifting the Warriors to a 100-89 lead. He added seven rebounds and six assists to his 6-for-14 performance from behind the arc. Klay Thompson had 19 points and Gary Payton II had 15 off the bench as the Warriors finished 18 of 45 from deep.

Jalen Green led the Rockets with 21 points and nine rebounds. Alperen Sengun added 19 points and seven assists while Jabari Smith Jr. chipped in 14 points and eight boards. Houston finished with a 46-24 advantage in points in the paint and committed only seven turnovers.

The Rockets seemed unable to get over the hump in the third quarter, closing to within 72-69 with a 13-4 run only for Payton to drill a corner trey that extended the lead back to two possessions.

Golden State took an 81-75 edge into the fourth.

Team-wide perimeter shooting enabled the Warriors to answer an early Rockets spurt, and when Payton drilled a 3-pointer off an inbounds pass with 1:39 left in the first quarter, the Warriors grabbed their first lead at 23-22.

Houston led by as much as six in the opening quarter.

The Warriors then opened the second period with a 10-0 blitz that yielded a 12-point advantage and capitalized fully on the Rockets' 0-for-8 start from the floor. Houston later pulled within four, but Golden State took a 57-47 lead into the break.

Thompson had 16 points in the first half for the Warriors, while Jalen Green had 13 for Houston. — Field Level Media/Reuters