Warriors fall 115-108 to Rockets, never lead as Curry exits early

The Warriors lost 115-108 to the Rockets at Toyota Center and dropped to 8-4. Houston is 9-3. The Warriors tied it three times and never led. The thing that decided it was the transition and paint points Houston piled up, plus a fourth-quarter run in which Reed Sheppard and Fred VanVleet hit the shots that put Golden State out of reach.

Where it got away

Golden State got to 85-88 on back-to-back threes from Georges Niang and De'Anthony Melton at the start of the fourth. Houston then answered with 8 straight points. Sheppard hit two threes in under a minute, at 9:15 and 8:43, and the Rockets were back up 96-85. Brandin Podziemski's four-point play cut it to 91-96, but Sheppard and VanVleet followed with threes and Houston led 102-91. By 3:32, VanVleet's 31-footer made it 111-93.

Here's what to watch, and it's simple: who wins the open floor. Houston had 19 fast-break points to Golden State's 7, and 50 points in the paint to the Warriors' 34. The Warriors also conceded 23 points off turnovers. You can shoot 17 threes and still lose if you let the other team run at a loose defense and get to the rim. That's a teaching moment on getting back and building a wall.

Standouts

Yaxel Lendeborg led Golden State with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 9-of-19 shooting in 36 minutes. On the replay, he got his points with a step-back three, a Eurostep and a backdoor cut out of a timeout. Podziemski added 22 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. LJ Cryer was the bench's bright spot with 13 points in 18 minutes and a +18 rating. Draymond Green had 7 points and a team-high 7 assists. Al Horford was 1-of-7 from the field, with 0-for-5 from three.

For Houston, Alperen Sengun had 19 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists. VanVleet scored 18 on 6-of-9 shooting, hit 4 of his 7 threes and finished +25. Amen Thompson scored 19 on 8-of-11 shooting. Kevin Durant had 20 points and 5 assists. Sheppard scored 13, including three fourth-quarter threes. Jabari Smith Jr. added 14 points and 8 rebounds.

The numbers behind it

Golden State shot 36-of-88 (41%) and 17-of-51 from three (33%). Houston shot 44-of-87 (51%) and 13-of-36 from three (36%). The Warriors actually won the glass 48-40, with 16 offensive rebounds to Houston's 9. Those extra chances didn't convert into stops.

Two things that matter beyond the score

Stephen Curry played 6 minutes and finished with 3 points. On the replay, he left the floor and headed toward the locker room with an apparent injury. We don't have word on what it was or how serious it is, so that's the first thing to watch before the next game. Losing him that early made the Warriors' comeback effort even more impressive.

Late in the third quarter, Marcus Smart was assessed a Flagrant 2 and ejected after the replay shows him throwing a punch at Charles Bassey. Bassey made 1 of 2 flagrant free throws, which cut it to 77-85 before Lendeborg's free throws at the end of the quarter made it 79-85. Smart had played 17 minutes and scored 6 points. It's a poor way to leave your team short-handed, and it didn't cost Houston.

What's next

The Warriors stay on the road and play the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, Nov. 13, at 9:30 p.m. ET. Expect the first question to be Curry's status. The second is cleaning up the transition defense that let Houston run all night.