The Golden State Warriors cruised to victory against Dallas Mavericks to script their sixth win of the season, score reading 116-95. The story was completely different for San Antonio Spurs, who lost to Houston Rockets by two points, 99-101 in a thrilling contest, which went down to the wire.
The Warriors were always going to be favourites for the match, and with stars such as Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant in good form, the Mavs had their back to the walls. Curry might not have been efficient from the three-point range as his last outing against the Los Angeles Lakers, but his 24 points, which included four three-pointers, was enough to help beat Mavs.
Durant and Klay Thompson also contributed to the team's win with 28 and 20 points respectively. Besides the third quarter, where they scored 17 only, they were impressive overall to get past Mavs. Despite Mavericks' Harrison Barnes scoring 25 points, it did not prove to be enough as Warriors impressed in their offence and defence.
It might have been an easy win for the Warriors, but the other game between San Antonio-Houston was a cracker. The Rockets seemed to be a determined outfit, hoping to defeat one of the best teams in the NBA, and they did exactly that. The Rockets started the game brightly in their offensive end, outscoring Spurs 33-24 in the first quarter itself.
From there on, the Spurs were always playing catch up, but when you have stars like Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge, who can bring the team back with their efforts, the Rockets were aware that they needed to keep the momentum going in the second quarter as well.
The Rockets maintained a solid game throughout the four quarters, which helped them beat Spurs 101-99. Had Leonard, who scored 34 points, received some good help from his support cast, things could have been different for the Spurs. This is Spurs' third loss of the season, while Rockets have moved up the table with five wins.
James Harden and Ryan Anderson played an important role in helping Rockets emerge victorious, scoring 20 and 24 points, respectively.
