Two nights after his historic 50-point game, young Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. didn’t have nearly the same success versus MVP candidate Stephen Curry and the visiting Golden State Warriors.
Curry scored 23 of his game-high 30 points during a dominant third quarter as Golden State outscored Houston, 39-12. That blew Saturday’s game open in what became a 113-87 win (box score) for the Warriors at Toyota Center. Overall, Curry shot 7-of-17 on 3-pointers (41.2%).
Porter scored a team-high 16 points for the Rockets, but he shot just 6-of-18 (33.3%). Rookie forward KJ Martin matched that scoring total with 16 points and 9 rebounds off the bench, while star center Christian Wood struggled with just 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting (26.7%).
The Warriors (32-32) moved up to No. 9 in the Western Conference standings and in position for a play-in tournament berth for the 2021 playoffs, while the Rockets (16-48) added to their NBA-worst record.
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Houston has a very quick turnaround before its next game, which occurs Sunday night versus New York. The limited consolation is that it’s also at home, which means there’s no travel for the Rockets between the back-to-back games. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Central.
For now, via highlights and postgame interviews, here’s a roundup of what we learned from Saturday’s game against Golden State.
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Stephen Silas is normally one of the first Rockets personnel to get back to the locker room postgame. He shares a lengthy embrace with Stephen Curry, and Curry escorted him towards Houston's tunnel. Both remain very close.
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) May 2, 2021
Stephen Silas on his conversation with @StephenCurry30 after the game: “He was just saying how happy he is for me and he’s looking forward to seeing the turnaround when it happens here in Houston under my leadership…He’s just a great person and a great player.” pic.twitter.com/PVb5KjzpPp
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) May 2, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etuh96UzRWU
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