Rockets End the Warriors' Eight-Game Streak, 115-108, on a Night Marred by Curry's Injury and Marcus Smart's Ejection

Golden State's eight-game winning streak ended in Houston on Wednesday night, and the Warriors' biggest worry had already left the building before the final horn. The Rockets beat Golden State 115-108 at Toyota Center in a game that saw Stephen Curry exit in the first quarter with right abdominal soreness and Houston guard Marcus Smart ejected for throwing a punch, The Associated Press reported.

After the game, coach Steve Kerr told reporters that Curry had left the arena during the second half to get an MRI and that the team was still waiting on results. Kerr did not sugarcoat it: "concern is high, but I have no idea the extent of the injury," he said, according to Heavy. Curry told his coach he had tweaked something in his abdominal area, Heavy reported.

The Rockets came out flying, opening on a 17-7 run and leading 35-20 after the first quarter, according to Bleacher Report's game summary. Curry's night ended early in that stretch. ESPN reported that he hit a 28-foot 3-pointer off a Draymond Green screen with 7:22 left in the opening period, then reacted in pain, spoke with Kerr during a timeout and headed to the locker room with team medical staffer Drew Yoder. Golden State trailed 19-10 when he left. He finished with three points on 1-of-3 shooting in 5 minutes, 35 seconds, according to the box score published by the Houston Chronicle.

To their credit, the Warriors did not fold. Yaxel Lendeborg keyed a 9-2 run late in the first half that tied the game at 49, before Houston closed the half on a 7-2 burst to lead 56-51. Amen Thompson then took over, scoring 15 of his 19 points in the third quarter.

The Rockets led by nine early in the fourth before Georges Niang and De'Anthony Melton hit 3-pointers to cut the gap to 88-85 with about 10 minutes left, AP reported. Houston answered with eight straight points, including a Thompson alley-oop and two 3-pointers from Reed Sheppard. Brandin Podziemski's four-point play sparked a 6-0 Golden State run, but back-to-back 3s from Sheppard and Fred VanVleet pushed the lead to 102-91 midway through the quarter.

Kevin Durant led Houston with 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting and five assists. Alperen Sengun was one assist shy of a triple-double with 19 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, and Thompson finished with 19 on 8-of-11 shooting. VanVleet added 18, Jabari Smith Jr. 14 and Sheppard 13, and the Rockets shot 50.6% from the floor.

Lendeborg led Golden State with 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Podziemski scored 22. Green had seven points, five rebounds and seven assists. Without their leading scorer, the Warriors shot just 40.9% and went 17-of-51 from beyond the arc.

The ugliest moment came late in the third quarter. During a dead ball, Smart went face-to-face with Warriors center Charles Bassey, and after words were exchanged he threw a right hand that appeared to graze Bassey's nose, the Houston Chronicle reported. AP said it was unclear what started the altercation; two Warriors quickly shoved Smart away while an official pulled Bassey back. After a review, officials assessed Smart a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected him before play resumed, though he had already walked off toward the tunnel.

Rockets coach Ime Udoka said afterward that Smart did not like the way Bassey had wrapped up his elbow at the other end of the floor, according to the Chronicle. Bleacher Report noted it was the 13th ejection of Smart's career. Bassey made one of two free throws once play resumed. Any further discipline would be up to the league office, and none had been announced early Thursday.

Here is my take. Smart has been one of the game's great competitors for a long time, and nobody questions his toughness. But there is a line, and a closed fist crosses it every time. The same rule we teach kids in church gyms and driveways applies on an NBA floor: you can play hard and still keep your hands to yourself. Houston won this game in spite of that moment, not because of it.

The loss drops Golden State to 8-4, while Houston improves to 9-3, according to Bleacher Report. The Warriors had climbed out of an 0-3 start with eight straight wins, their longest streak since 2022. Curry entered the night averaging 30.6 points per game.

The schedule offers no breather. Golden State visits the red-hot San Antonio Spurs on Friday night, while the Rockets host Utah the same night, AP reported. All eyes in the Bay Area now turn to the MRI results. The Warriors have shown they can compete without Curry for a night. Whether they can do it for weeks is the question hanging over the whole franchise.