Houston: The Golden State Warriors held off the Houston Rockets 98-87 to emerge from Saturday’s action as the only team to remain unbeaten in the NBA this season.
Stephen Curry scored 14 of his game-high 34 points in the fourth quarter to lift the Warriors in a battle of unbeaten teams.
The Memphis Grizzlies, the only other unbeaten team going into Saturday’s games, saw their winning streak to start the season halted by Brandon Knight’s three-point play with just 1.1 seconds remaining in Milwaukee, where the Bucks triumphed 93-92.
Knight took the ball out of a timeout, eluding Marc Gasol to drive into the lane.
His one-handed basket dropped in as he was being hit from behind by Courtney Lee, and Knight sank the ensuing free-throw for the deciding point.
In Houston, Curry connected on 13 of his 19 shots, including six of nine from three-point range, and also grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out five assists for Golden State, who improved to 5-0 for the first time since the 1994-95 season.
Andre Iguodala added 15 points and Draymond Green chipped in 14, while Aussie Andrew Bogut pulled down a game-high 18 rebounds and blocked four shots for the Warriors.
James Harden had 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and Isaiah Canaan scored a career-high 21 points for the previously unbeaten Rockets, who were without three starters as they suffered their first setback after a 6-0 start.
Big man Dwight Howard was a late scratch with flu-like symptoms. Terrence Jones missed his third straight game with a leg injury, and Patrick Beverley was again absent with a hamstring injury.
Undrafted rookie Tarik Black made his first career start in place of Howard, who was averaging 19.7 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.
The depleted Rockets led by eight at halftime, but Golden State exploded in the third quarter, scoring 22 of the first 26 points of the period as they turned things around.
After Canaan’s layup at 8:51 made it 60-56, Iguodala converted an alley-oop from Klay Thompson and Curry hit a three-pointer to put Golden State ahead.
A Thompson layup was followed by another three-pointer from Curry and a dunk by Iguodala. Bogut added a reverse layup to make it 70-60 before Jason Terry’s three-pointer from the right wing finally ended the Rockets’ drought.
Golden State’s seven-point lead after three quarters evaporated, with Canaan’s three-pointer knotting the score at 80-80.
After Trevor Ariza’s jumper made it 82-82, Curry took control.
He made two tough shots around a Bogut layup to give Golden State a six-point lead.
Out of a timeout, Curry hit a three-pointer, rolled in a heavily defended basket off his finger and connected with another three-pointer with a minute remaining.
“Steph won us the game probably off his own back tonight,” Bogut said.
“We’re not there yet,” he added. “That’s the scary thing. We know that we probably played a good game for maybe a half tonight and still pulled out a win.”
