Warriors at Rockets
The NBA will have one fewer undefeated team on Saturday, when the Houston Rockets host the Golden State Warriors. The Rockets have been the most dominant team over the first two weeks of the season, winning all six of their games by double digits while showing off a much-improved defense. The Warriors are putting up 109.5 points behind Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson while winning their four games by an average of 15.8 points.
Golden State is ripping off wins without one of its biggest weapons, and David Lee (hamstring) is not expected to join the team on the two-game road trip after missing the first three contests and bowing out seven minutes into Wednesday’s 121-104 win over the Los Angeles Clippers after re-aggravating the injury. Houston was missing a pair of starters on Thursday and still rolled over a shorthanded San Antonio squad 98-81. Point guard Patrick Beverley (hamstring) and forward Terrence Jones (leg contusion) both sat out practice on Friday and will be game-time decisions on Saturday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Bay Area (Golden State), CSN Houston
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (4-0): Golden State made an early statement in the Pacific Division race by crushing the Clippers and is looking for its first 5-0 start since the 1994-95 campaign. The Warriors went 15-of-25 from 3-point range in the win over Los Angeles and is not missing Lee thanks to the production of Draymond Green and stars Thompson and Curry. Green is filling in for Lee as the starting power forward and is knocking down 50 percent of his 3-point attempts while averaging 12.5 points and 7.3 rebounds.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (6-0): Houston is holding opponents to 39.9 percent shooting and will put its strength up against one of Golden State’s with its success at defending the 3-point line. The Rockets are limiting opponents to 26 percent from beyond the arc and forced San Antonio to go 2-of-20 from 3-point range in Thursday’s win. “I assume they’re gonna make a few of them; they’re very, very good shooters,” Rockets coach Kevin McHale said of the Warriors. “We just don’t want to give them open, uncontested threes. We’ve got to try to contest the line. We’ve got to have a lot of hustle on the defensive end.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Rockets C Dwight Howard is averaging 19.7 points on 62.5 percent shooting and has five double-doubles in six games.
2. Thompson (27 points) and Curry (26) are the highest-scoring duo in the NBA.
3. Houston has taken seven of the last nine in the series, including two of three last season.