Steph Curry, Warriors go ice cold vs. Rockets

Ouch.

It’s hard, in the NBA, to win when your stars don’t deliver. And it’s impossible for your stars to deliver night-in, night-out. Steph Curry last week had arguably the best three-game stretch of any player in the NBA this year, thoroughly dominating as the Golden State Warriors won a highly-impressive slate of games, beating the Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers, and Denver Nuggets in a span of four games.

But he couldn’t sustain that performance on Sunday against a fourth consecutive playoff-bound Western Conference team. The Houston Rockets came to the Chase Center Sunday evening and exacted some revenge against a Dubs team that has had their number this year, winning 106-96. And the primary reason? They held Curry to a stunning three points on the night.

Houston smothered Curry all night long, which was compounded by cold shooting from the chef. He shot just 1-for-8 from three-point range, and was only able to get two looks inside the arc ... and no free throws. He looked uncomfortable all night, and committed four turnovers (though he did have eight assists).

The Warriors just aren’t going to win very many games when that happens.

Despite that, the Warriors stayed in the game until the end, and even held a double-digit lead at one point early on. They led by six points at the end of the first quarter, and only trailed 51-50 at the break. They trailed by seven entering the fourth quarter, and pulled to within two points a few minutes into the frame. They had done just enough to stay competitive to that point, but then it unraveled on both ends of the court. Houston rattled off a 16-5 run, and the Warriors were never able to get very close after that.

With Curry struggling, no other Warrior was able to step up enough. Jimmy Butler III had a well-rounded game and scored efficiently, but only had 13 points. Draymond Green and Moses Moody were non-factors on offense, scoring a combined five points on 12 shots.

The did get some nice scoring outputs from Buddy Hield, Brandin Podziemski, and Gary Payton II, who all shot 7-for-14 from the field, scoring 20, 19, and 16 points, respectively. But that certainly wasn’t enough for a team that shot just 41.6% from the field while turning the ball over 20 times.

Houston beat up Golden State inside, outscoring the Warriors in the paint 56-40, with All-Star Alperen Şengün notching a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds. But it was old foe Dillon Brooks who did the most, finishing with 24 points on 10-for-13 shooting, while the athleticism of Amen Thompson and Jalen Green bothered the Warriors all night long.

It was a golden opportunity squandered, as the Denver Nuggets also lost on Sunday. Had the Warriors won, they would have moved into the fourth seed in the West. Instead, they dropped to the sixth seed, where they have the exact same record as the fifth seed (LA Clippers), seventh seed (Minnesota Timberwolves), and eighth seed (Memphis Grizzlies).

With four games left, anything could happen.

The Dubs now get one day off, before heading to the desert to take on the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night.