Jonathan Kuminga registered a career-high 33 points, Andrew Wiggins went for 23 and the Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets for the 15th consecutive time, 99-93, in San Francisco on Thursday.
With Stephen Curry resting sore knees and Draymond Green dealing with a painful calf, Golden State used a 21-4 run bridging the second and third quarters to take a lead it never relinquished en route to snapping a five-game losing streak.
Attempting to beat the Warriors for the first time since February 2020, the Rockets got 16 points from Alperen Sengun and 15 from Dillon Brooks in a balanced attack while dropping their second straight.
Houston had the upper hand in the first 21 minutes of a low-scoring first half, leading 42-40 before Moses Moody buried a 3-pointer and Wiggins turned a 27-footer into a four-point play, highlighting a 9-1 burst that sent the Warriors into the break with a 49-43 lead.
Intermission didn’t kill Golden State’s momentum, as Wiggins and Kuminga nailed 3-pointers in a 12-3 flurry that opened a 61-46 advantage.
The Rockets got within four on two occasions in the game’s final 1:36, then as close as 96-93 on a Sengun layup with still 32.6 seconds remaining.
But Kuminga responded all three times, hitting from the interior, connecting on the second of two free throws and then converting a driving hoop with 16.9 seconds left, killing the visitors’ hopes.
The Warriors won despite shooting just 41.9 percent. The Rockets finished at 37.6 percent.
Kuminga’s point total was two more than his previous best, set in January against the Sacramento Kings.
Brandin Podziemski had 11 rebounds to go with eight points, and Kevon Looney 11 boards for the Warriors, who will visit the Rockets in the NBA Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Sengun and Amen Thompson had eight rebounds apiece for the Rockets, and Sengun and Fred VanVleet had five assists each.
Thompson and Jalen Green finished with 14 points apiece for the Rockets, while VanVleet added 13.
–Field Level Media
