Warriors Blow Out Rockets 108-78

Mar 17, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Golden State Warriors power forward David Lee (10) reacts after a play during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Coming into Sunday’s game against the Golden State Warriors, the Houston Rockets took it as their biggest game of the season up to this point.  The Rockets, with a win, could have tied Golden State for 6^th place in the west, but came out flat scoring just 10 points in the first quarter, and eventually falling to the Warriors, 108-78.

The Warriors were led by Stephen Curry, who scored 29 points, and Klay Thompson, who had 26 points, including six three-pointers.  David Lee recorded his 41^st double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.  While the Warriors did struggle offensively in the first quarter as well, shooting just 8 for 28, they erupted in the second quarter, outscoring the Rockets 36-21 and taking a 23 point lead at halftime.

The Rockets were led by James Harden, who had 21 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds.  Jeremy Lin added 21 points, while the rest of the team struggled.  Houston shot just 32% from the field, and 26% from beyond the arc, after torching the Warriors from the three point line the last time they were in Houston.

“That was a sorry sight to see out there,” Kevin McHale said. “It was really hard to watch.”

The Rockets went 3 for 23 from the field and had four turnovers in the ugly first quarter. Nobody could find a rhythm: Harden missed a driving layup, Thomas Robinson blew an uncontested dunk and Donatas Motiejunas missed all six of his shots.

“It was terrible,” Chandler Parsons said. “We came out so flat. We didn’t play with any energy.”

The only bright spot for the Rockets was in the first few minutes of the third quarter.  On Friday, Houston was able to erase a 20-point deficit against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and for a while, it looked like the same could have been done.  The Rockets started the quarter on a 26-8 run that cut the Warrior lead to 62-57, led by Harden and Lin, but Thompson hit four 3-pointers to cap a 13-3 Warrior run that all but put the game out of reach.

The Rockets now trail the Warriors by 1½ games for the 6^th seed in the West.  They will host the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.

Box Score:

Golden State Warriors

STARTERS

MIN

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

35

4-13

0-0

2-3

1

9

10

4

1

0

2

2

+23

10

18

4-10

1-2

0-0

1

4

5

0

0

0

0

0

+6

9

33

4-8

0-0

4-4

2

10

12

0

0

3

0

2

+26

12

45

12-22

5-11

0-0

0

5

5

11

2

1

3

1

+22

29

42

10-18

6-9

0-0

0

4

4

0

1

0

4

3

+19

26

BENCH

MIN

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

2

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

1

1

1

0

0

0

0

+8

0

13

3-6

0-0

0-1

2

2

4

1

0

0

0

1

+7

6

7

1-3

0-2

0-0

1

1

2

0

2

0

0

2

+9

2

13

1-2

0-0

0-0

1

2

3

0

0

1

0

4

-4

2

31

3-11

1-2

1-1

0

4

4

9

0

1

1

2

+26

8

2

2-3

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

+8

4

DNP COACH’S DECISION

DNP COACH’S DECISION

TOTALS

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

PTS

Fast break points:   16Points in the paint:   34Total Team Turnovers (Points off turnovers):   10 (6)

+/- denotes team’s net points while the player is on the court.

Houston Rockets

STARTERS

MIN

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

20

2-11

0-4

0-0

0

3

3

0

0

0

1

1

+7

4

36

2-13

1-6

4-4

1

6

7

2

0

1

1

2

-17

9

31

3-5

0-0

0-0

4

7

11

1

1

3

1

3

-14

6

35

9-16

3-5

0-3

0

1

1

4

0

0

2

0

-15

21

40

6-16

3-7

6-6

1

9

10

8

3

0

3

3

-19

21

BENCH

MIN

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

17

2-4

0-0

1-1

1

5

6

0

0

0

2

3

-16

5

5

0-2

0-0

0-0

3

1

4

0

0

0

1

0

-9

0

13

0-4

0-3

0-0

1

2

3

0

0

0

2

1

-15

0

5

0-1

0-0

0-0

1

0

1

0

0

0

0

1

-10

0

2

0-1

0-1

0-0

0

1

1

0

0

0

2

0

-8

0

23

4-11

2-7

2-2

0

1

1

1

2

1

0

1

-21

12

12

0-2

0-2

0-0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

-13

0

DNP COACH’S DECISION

TOTALS

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

PTS