It was one of those plays for the Warriors’ season highlight reel, and that should get your attention. It said everything about Stephen Curry, the quickest team in the NBA and the flawless teamwork that has made the Warriors unbeatable at home.
Late in the third quarter of the Warriors’ 123-110 victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night, Curry took a pass deep in the backcourt and was immediately confronted by James Harden. In an instant, with the type of reaction only the great ones possess, Curry whipped a long, perfect, left-handed pass behind his back to Andre Iguodala, who fed Leandro Barbosa in stride for a layup.
It brought down the house — and this is a house not easily swayed.
Make that 42 straight wins at Oracle Arena, and although the Warriors disappointed head coach Steve Kerr with some extended lethargy, it was certainly worth the time for a national television audience on TNT. Curry poured in 35 points, Andrew Bogut flourished with increased playing time, Shaun Livingston threw bullet passes out of a playmaker’s dream, and Marreese Speights scored a very efficient 15 points in 12 minutes.
When people around the league check out the box score — and you’re thinking LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Gregg Popovich, other Mount Rushmore types — they’ll notice that Klay Thompson was just about invisible, by his standards, shooting 5-for-19 from the floor. Draymond Green, undaunted but shaken by a first-half collision, took only three shots all night. And yet, here was another win that left no doubt by the finish. Every single challenge is met at Oracle, no exceptions, slumping stars be damned.
Astoundingly, the Warriors have won 98 straight games, including the playoffs, in which they had a 15-point lead at some point (16 in the first half Tuesday). Maybe that doesn’t sound so great — sort of like a baseball team leading after eight innings — until you realize that the NBA is all about momentum-turning runs. Dramatic comebacks seem to happen against everyone but the defending champs.
This game did Houston some good, too — sort of like the way a breath of fresh air revives a drowning man. Scorned and dismissed for weeks as serious Western Conference contenders, the Rockets accepted the league’s most arduous on-the-road challenge and did so with a powerful thirst, led by Harden’s 37 points.
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