Stephen Curry, Warriors Eliminated from NBA Cup, Ripped By Fans for Loss vs. Rockets

Posted by Admin December 12, 2024 NBA

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The Houston Rockets finally beat the Golden State Warriors.

Houston ended Golden State’s 15-game winning streak in head-to-head matchups with a dramatic 91-90 victory at the Toyota Center in Wednesday’s NBA Cup quarterfinals showdown. The Rockets advanced to Las Vegas and will face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the semifinals.

It seemed like the Warriors were going to cruise to victory with a six-point lead in the final two minutes, but a stunning sequence featuring a Fred VanVleet three, Draymond Green turnover, Alperen Şengün basket, Gary Payton II turnover and Jalen Green free throws after a questionable foul call on a loose ball gave the Rockets the win.

Brandin Podziemski had a look at the buzzer to win it, but Jabari Smith Jr. swatted it away.

Şengün finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals to lead the way, but it was fitting that a defensive play from Smith finished the victory. After all, Houston’s defense set the tone throughout the game and forced 15 turnovers while holding Stephen Curry to 19 points in defeat.

Social media reacted to the shocking turnaround:

Tim Bontemps @TimBontemps

Didn’t like the foul call on the loose ball, but that isn’t why the Warriors lost that game. Epic meltdown over the last couple minutes of that game to allow Houston to come back and punch its ticket to Las Vegas.

Elliott Pohnl @ElliottPohnl

Gary Payton bro what are you doing

V 🍉 @pineappleriottv

lmao warriors gave that game away.

KEZIE DOZIE @ChikezieDozie

LOL…The Warriors threw away this game.. You were leading by 6 with 3mins to go, plus your opponent couldn’t score, and your tactics was to run down the shot-clock on every possession?… *smh..🤦‍♂️

SNicholas408 @Nicholas408S

Warriors lose it at the very end 😮‍💨..too many fouls, poor shot selection & Kerr out of his mind. Looney kept Sengun at a minimum yet was hardly in game..last shot was blocked 😭

yes @seeemonn

Warriors 3 straight possessions with a turnover is nasty, considering 2 of them were shot clock violations

Mike Reach @Mike3MG

Warriors didn’t lose the game cus of the foul call, they lost the game because they were sloppy. Lack of execution. No points in 3 mins. 3 straight turnovers.

Mastered by E.Q. @masteredbyeq

This Warriors game got me sick! They lost it more than the rockets won it.

Jordan S. Grice @jordansgrice

We can talk about some of the blatant missed calls, but let’s not ignore the fact that the warriors didn’t scored in the last three minutes.

Golden State already won the first two matchups against the Rockets earlier this season when Curry wasn’t even available, so it seemed like it would have the advantage going into Wednesday’s contest.

However, the Houston defense had other ideas and held the visitors to a mere 37 points in the first half. Curry and Jonathan Kuminga found some space to operate, but there wasn’t enough secondary scoring for a team missing Andrew Wiggins (ankle) and Moses Moody (knee).

Turnovers were also a problem for the Warriors, which prevented them from settling into anything resembling an early offensive rhythm. Still, they were down just seven at the half in large part because of their own defense.

Staying within striking distance despite the early struggles was important, as Golden State took the lead in the third quarter as Buddy Hield found his shooting stroke and provided some of that secondary scoring that was missing at the start. One of Hield’s outside shots made him the 17th player in NBA history to hit 2,000 three-pointers in a career.

It set the stage for a back-and-forth finish with Şengün playing well for the Rockets on one side and the Warriors building momentum on the other.

As the back-and-forth continued in the fourth, players like Lindy Waters III, Brandin Podziemski and Kuminga hit key triples to maintain that momentum. It also helped having Draymond Green make a handful of impressive defensive plays to at least keep Şengün in check.

And then the Warriors went cold.

They didn’t score a point in the final three minutes of the game, and their final field goal came on a Kuminga three with 3:38 remaining. That opened the door for Houston’s comeback, and VanVleet, Şengün, Green and Smith took full advantage and delivered at winning time.