Warriors' eight-game streak ends in Houston as Curry exits with abdominal injury
Houston beat Golden State 115-108 to end an eight-game win streak after Stephen Curry left in the first quarter with right abdominal soreness.
The Golden State Warriors lost more than a winning streak in Houston on Wednesday night. The Rockets beat them 115-108 and ended an eight-game run, but the bigger concern is Stephen Curry. He left in the first quarter with right abdominal soreness and did not come back, NBC Sports reported in the Associated Press game story.
Curry hit one 3-pointer, his only basket, before walking off during a timeout holding his right side. Coach Steve Kerr said Curry told him he had tweaked something in his abdomen that he had never felt before. Curry left the arena during the second half for an MRI, and the results were still pending after the game, Bleacher Report reported. Kerr did not play down the worry. "Concern is high," he said, according to AP News.
The injury comes at a bad time. Curry came into the night second in the league in scoring at 30.6 points per game, and the Warriors had been averaging 120.4 points. Without him they were held to 108. Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg filled the gap as well as anyone could, finishing with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Brandin Podziemski added 22. Houston spread its scoring around, with Kevin Durant at 20 and Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson at 19 each.
Golden State still had a chance late. Down nine early in the fourth, the Warriors got 3s from Georges Niang and De'Anthony Melton and closed to 88-85 with about 10 minutes left. Houston answered with eight straight points, including two 3s from Reed Sheppard. A Podziemski four-point play got the Warriors within five, but Sheppard and Fred VanVleet hit back-to-back 3s for a 102-91 lead, and Golden State never got closer than that.
The game also got heated. Houston's Marcus Smart was ejected late in the third quarter for throwing a punch at Charles Bassey. After a review, officials gave him a Flagrant 2 foul.
What it means for San Antonio
The Warriors are now 8-4. That record covers two very different stretches. They opened 0-3 with losses at the Lakers, at home to Memphis and at Phoenix. Then they won eight straight, with wins at Denver and Minnesota and a 138-87 rout of New Orleans just before this trip. Over those eight wins they beat opponents by almost 17 points a game. In the first three losses and in Houston, they were outscored.
Next up is Friday night in San Antonio on Prime Video, the second game of a five-game road trip. The schedule leaves Golden State a day to get Curry's MRI results and decide on the rotation. If Curry misses time, the Warriors will need more from Lendeborg and Podziemski, who combined for 47 points against Houston. They will also have to score without the player who had been carrying their offense. How close they get to their 120-point average against the Spurs will show whether the streak can survive his absence.