HOUSTON (AP) — Buddy Hield scored 27 points and the Golden State Warriors squandered a huge lead before outlasting the Houston Rockets 127-121 in overtime Saturday night.
It’s Golden State’s 14th straight-regular season win over the Rockets and the eighth in a row in Houston.
The Warriors led by 31 points in the first half. The Rockets tied it with an 18-2 run to open the fourth quarter.
Golden State scored the first six points in overtime to make it 125-119 and went on to a third straight win without Steph Curry, who is out with a sprained left ankle.
The Warriors led by five before a 3-pointer by Jabari Smith Jr. cut the lead to 119-117 with 15.5 seconds to go in regulation. Aaron Holiday stole the ball from Draymond Green and he fouled out a few seconds later. Tari Eason made two free throws after that to send it to overtime.
Eason led the Rockets with a career-high 27 points. Smith added 21.
Andrew Wiggins added 15 points for Golden State in his return after missing two games with a strained back.
Takeaways
Warriors: Golden State continued to win without Curry, improving to 5-1 this season. The team said he will be re-evaluated Sunday to see how much longer he’ll be out.
Rockets: Houston played much better after halftime than it did in an awful first half but couldn’t close it out to build on consecutive wins at San Antonio and Dallas.
Key moment
Jonathan Kuminga scored the first two baskets of overtime to make it 123-119. He finished with 23 points.
Key stat
Houston made just 1 of 12 shots in overtime.
Up next
The Rockets host the Knicks on Monday night, while the Warriors visit Washington Monday night.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Kristie Rieken, The Associated Press
