The Golden State Warriors put on an absolute dud against the Houston Rockets tonight, losing 96-106 to one of the best defenses in the NBA. The Rockets have been locking up all the star guards that come against their team, with that being reflected to the highest degree with the masterclass they had in guarding Stephen Curry.
After opening April with averages of 41.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.3 assists and a 50-point game, the Rockets held Curry to three points (1-10 FG). Fans were stunned to see Curry go flat in this high-stakes game after his recent hot streak.
“Steph Curry when he sees Amen Thompson check in,” said a fan, comparing Amen’s defense on Curry to Kawhi Leonard’s on LeBron James in the 2014 NBA Finals.
“Steph praying to God looking for help tonight but he not saying Amen,” said another fan about Amen’s incredible defense.
“I’ve never seen the Rockets shut Steph Curry down like this. Houston absolutely throttled the Warriors. I love this team so much,” said another fan about the Rockets’ defense.
“Bronny scored the same amount of points as Steph in just 2 minutes,” said a fan jokingly after Bronny hit a garbage-time three in the Lakers win tonight, giving him the same points total as Steph.
“Steph Curry can have days like this and the sky isn’t falling. But if LeBron has a game like this, his entire career is up for litigation. Cmon y’all, they both aren’t in the same goat talks,” said one fan, dismissing Steph as one of the greatest because of this game.
“Steph Curry just had his 2nd game of the season in which he scored 3 points or less. They won’t disrespect his legacy on TV tomorrow because he only matters when it’s time to use him to diss LeBron tho. Lol,” said another fan about Curry’s legacy.
Curry looked like a fish out of water against the Rockets’ on-ball pressure on him. The biggest credit for this has to go to Rockets sophomore Amen Thompson, who might have had the single-best defensive performance by any player against Curry. It’s the kind of performance that’s instantly brought the second-year player into Defensive Player of the Year talks.
Despite the ugly numbers, this is only Steph’s second-worst scoring performance of the season. He scored just two points against the Memphis Grizzlies in December, playing 24 minutes as the Warriors lost by 50. He did score 52 against the Grizzlies earlier this week, so it’s safe to say he got his revenge.
Curry was cold and struggled against aggressive defense, but the Rockets ensured Steph had no relief or easy shots at any point in the night.
Keeping up that aggression over a full game is hard, but the Rockets’ stifling Curry ensured he couldn’t do anything. He did have eight assists as he was forced to be a passer, but that isn’t where he excels. The Warriors failed to score 100 points as a team after being on an incredible run of performances.
The Warriors are now in a four-way tie with the LA Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Memphis Grizzlies in the standings from seeds 5 to 8. This win has also allowed the Rockets to virtually lock up the No. 2 seed, extending their lead over the Lakers to 3.5 games with only three games remaining.
