The Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets to sweep the season series 4-0, in a game where tempers flared and emotions ran high.
Early in the third quarter, after Stephen Curry was called for an offensive foul, Rockets forward Trevor Ariza intentionally bumped into him.
Although reserved and laid back in most situations, Curry didn't like that and ran at Ariza before being held back by teammate Draymond Green.
Going after the best player on the best team? Usually not a wise move.
The Warriors got the last laugh, however, as they shot 50 percent from the field and just over 40 percent from deep to take down the Rockets, 126-113. The Warriors have had the largest point-margin this season, and the largest since the 72 win Bulls team that head coach Steve Kerr played on with Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman. They have won 10 out of their last 11 and in that stretch, they are outscoring their opponents by an average of roughly 15 points per contest. Not only has this squad been winning, but they are doing it handedly.
Curry and Klay Thompson, otherwise known as the Splash Bros, continued to stay on the mark. They combined for 49 points and 15 assists, while center Andrew Bogut had five blocks to go with 10 boards and nine points. His relief off the bench, David Lee, had 10 boards and nine points, while defensive specialist Draymond Green, who has been averaging a solid 12 and eight this year, dropped 18 points and hit three times from beyond the arc.
The Rockets weren't able to get Dwight Howard going, as most of his points came off of lobs in the second quarter. He finished with just seven points to go with 11 rebounds. James Harden, who looks to be in a two-horse race with Stephen Curry for MVP, had a much better game this time around. When he last faced the Warriors this past weekend, he struggled from the floor and only had 12 points. Tonight, however, he was aggressive early and scored 33 points, with 14 coming from the charity stripe.
It looked as if the Rockets were going to get buried early. The Warriors were up 12 with about 3:40 left in the first quarter after Curry sliced through Houston's defense for a high-glass layup. However, James Harden took it right to the hole on the next possession with the shot clock expiring and after a Jason Terry three-pointer and some free throws from Harden, the Warriors lead was trimmed to three.
That was as close as the Rockets would get, as the Warriors pulled away in the second quarter, where they outscored the Rockets by 17 and took a 20-point lead into halftime. The Rockets simply couldn't dig all the way out of that hole and suffered from lack of post-play, as Howard and Motiejunas combined to shoot just 5 of 16 from the floor. Corey Brewer provided a 20-point spark off the bench, but it wasn't quite enough.
Golden State now improves to 35-6 while the Rockets fall to 29-15. The former will host the Kings on Friday at 10:30 PM EST, while the latter will travel to Phoenix that same day to play the Suns at 9:00 PM EST.