NBA scores: Jonathan Kuminga, Andrew Wiggins lead Warriors past Rockets

Expectations were pretty low when the Golden State Warriors hosted Houston Rockets Thursday evening. The Rockets, who entered the night in second place in the Western Conference standings, have been on a roll of late. The Warriors, on the other hand, had lost five straight games … and of greater concern, were without their two Hall of Famers, Steph Curry and Draymond Green.

It was a preview of Wednesday’s NBA Cup quarterfinal game, though the Dubs hope to have a healthier roster when that game rolls around. But they won’t hope for a different result because despite being so shorthanded, they stopped the bleeding and pulled off a huge win, 99-93.

As the result suggests, it was all about defense. They jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead behind five points from Jonathan Kuminga and led 11-3 more than five minutes into the game. While the defense continued to play well, the lack of Curry caught up with the offense as they went stone cold. The Rockets chipped away and eventually outscored the Dubs, ending the quarter with a 17-4 run to lead 22-18.

But the Dubs found the hoop again to start the second quarter, with the offense quickly coming alive. But again the game stalled, with defense prevailing for both teams. And though Houston led for most of the quarter, the Warriors shined in the final minutes, culminating in a four-point play by Andrew Wiggins with 12 seconds left, followed by a spectacular defensive possession by Wiggins, giving Golden State a 49-43 lead lead at the break.

Despite being down their two most important players, the Third Quarter Warriors re-emerged and set the second half tone with a 12-3 run to open things up. With a 61-46 lead in hand, the Warriors set out to try to maintain the advantage.

But Houston had a run in them. Shortly after halfway through the quarter, they rattled off a 10-0 run to pull within four points. But the Warriors responded with a 6-0 run of their own and would enter the fourth quarter with a 73-66 lead.

However, the momentum had shifted and Houston came flying out of the gates in the fourth quarter. It felt like the Warriors were desperately trying to cling to the lead, with Kuminga and Wiggins making back-to-back heroics as the Chase Center crowd — and sidelined Curry and Green — cheered them on. With about a minute left, Kuminga made one of the game’s defining plays, stealing the ball and beating everyone in transition for a layup to push the lead to six points.

But Houston scored quickly, countered by Kuminga, who split a pair of free throws. The Rockets scored again in a two-on-one situation, making it a one-possession game. With the Dubs up by three points but the game far from over, Kuminga mashed all the buttons on the controller, beat his man, split a couple of defenders and finished nicely at the rim. A successful defensive possession and a Wiggins free throw later and the final score 99-93 was set, with a huge win in the books.

Kuminga led the way with 33 points on 13-for-22 shooting in what was by far his best game of the season. Wiggins starred with a little bit of everything, scoring 23 points on 8-for-15 shooting while adding nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. Those two not only scored 55 of the team’s 99 points, but were the only Warriors in double figures, although Brandin Podziemski (12) and Kevon Looney (11) both contributed double-digit rebounds as Golden State beat Houston 54-45 d. the glass.

The Warriors improve to 13-8 on the year and are 2-0 against the Rockets, though the teams still have three games remaining against each other. The Warriors will get a chance to build on the win Friday night when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves at 7 p.m. 19:00 PT.