The Golden State Warriors find themselves in rare territory as they prepare for a road test against the Houston Rockets on Saturday. The Warriors are in the unfamiliar position of trying to rebound from a loss after having an eight-game winning streak snapped in a 127-115 loss at Oklahoma City on Friday. The Rockets, who have won five of their last six, aim for a season-high fifth straight home victory.
The Rockets have been maddeningly inconsistent, showing flashes of dominance such as outscoring the Thunder 40-18 in the first quarter, which happened one night after an ugly loss at Orlando. "That's the beauty of this thing," Houston star James Harden told reporters. "We could be so good, but at times we have mental lapses where we let teams get comfortable." The Warriors are outside their comfort zone for the first time in weeks, coming off their first loss since Christmas Day.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBA TV, CSN Bay Area (Golden State), ROOT (Houston)
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (31-6): Golden State didn't have a typically strong defensive performance against the Thunder, allowing Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka to put up huge numbers. It should help that center Andrew Bogut is expected to be back in the lineup to protect the rim after getting a day off to rest on the first night of the back-to-back. The Warriors remain as dangerous as any team in the league at the offensive end with Stephen Curry (23.2 points, 7.9 assists) and Klay Thompson (21.6 points) among all five starters averaging double-digit scoring.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (28-12): Houston is the rare team that loves the 3-pointer even more than the Warriors, leading the league in attempts (33.8) and makes (11.9) per game by a wide margin. That also is the source of much of the Rockets' inconsistency, because they're nearly unbeatable when the 3s are falling but struggle offensively when they aren't. Houston has one constant in MVP candidate Harden (27 points, 6.8 assists, 5.7 rebounds) but needs center Dwight Howard (16.9 points, 11.1 rebounds) to be more steady in his production.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Golden State has won three straight in the series including 11- and 12-point victories this season.
2. The Rockets are 6-9 when allowing at least 100 points, while the Warriors have failed to reach triple digits only eight times in 37 games.
3. Thompson has made multiple 3-pointers in 16 consecutive games, shooting 45.2 percent from behind the arc over that stretch.