HOUSTON — Finally. The Warriors snapped an 11-game road losing skid Monday night, beating the Houston Rockets 121-108.
Stephen Curry cheered while riding a stationary bike as the Warriors built their fourth-quarter lead up to 15 with under six minutes left. It didn’t matter that his teammates couldn’t hear him; he was ecstatic that finally Golden State was on track for a rare road win.
All Golden State needed to do was hold on. And while this team has been known to blow double-figure leads, the Warriors held on to win their first road game since January.
Curry scored 30 points and Klay Thompson added 29 to hold off the Rockets. Jonathan Kuminga built off his strong showing in Memphis with another efficient night, going 7-for-9 from the field to lead the bench players with 17 points.
The start, however, wasn’t encouraging — for either team.
Both teams had a sloppy first half, combining for 25 turnovers. Curry got off to a slow start, going scoreless in the first quarter. But the Warriors still managed to go up 26-21 at the end of one for their first lead on the road after the opening 12 minutes since Feb. 2.
Curry then found his groove in the second, scoring 15 points and the Warriors were up by five at the break.
A scary collision between Curry and Jordan Poole in the third had Warriors fans holding their breath. Poole fell and hit the back of his head on Curry’s right leg, causing Curry to hop away before ultimately walking it off. He was examined by the team’s trainer on the bench before returning to the game, and scoring 11 points in the fourth.
The Rockets remained within striking distance until a fourth-quarter surge by the Warriors pushed them ahead, and Golden State carried that momentum to the finish line.
Poole, who had a team-high eight assists, found a soaring Kuminga for a dunk to cap off a 12-2 run by the visitors, putting Golden State ahead 102-89. The Rockets called a timeout, but there was no stopping the Warriors.
Finally, the Warriors figured out how to win on the road. They’re now 8-29 on the road and are sixth in the Western Conference standings — sitting a 1/2 game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks.
That makes Wednesday’s matchup between the Warriors and Mavericks in Dallas that much more interesting. The game has playoff implications with the winner walking away with the head-to-head tiebreaker.