The Houston Rockets had the floor spacing they craved on Thursday at Golden State, with frontcourt starters Robert Covington and P.J. Tucker each making five 3-pointers in a 135-105 rout (box score).
James Harden led the Rockets (35-20) with 29 points and 10 assists, while Russell Westbrook added 21 points and 10 assists. It’s the sixth win in eight games for the Rockets, with the 6-foot-5 Tucker starting at center in each of them as part of Houston’s new-look smaller lineup.
Covington was Houston’s third-leading scorer with 20 points, and he also added five rebounds and a game-high four blocks. It’s the second consecutive game with the Rockets for Covington to block four shots.
Due to the blowout, no Rockets player exceeded 30 minutes in the game, with head coach Mike D’Antoni playing 12 men in total.
Tucker hit his five 3-pointers in the first half, which helped build a 22-point halftime lead over the outmatched Warriors (12-44). For Houston, it was sweet revenge after a shocking loss at Chase Center on Christmas.
Veteran big man Jeff Green, who signed just two days ago, added to Houston’s depth of frontcourt shooters by scoring 17 points and hitting four-of-five shots from 3-point range in his Rockets debut.
Overall, Houston made 25-of-49 3-pointers (51.0%) as a team, while Golden State hit just 7-of-33 from 3-point range (21.9%).
The Warriors were led by 22 points from newcomer Andrew Wiggins.
The Rockets have a much larger challenge looming Saturday when they visit the Jazz in Salt Lake City. Houston trails Utah (36-18) by 1.5 games in the Western Conference standings in the race for home-court advantage in at least the first round of the 2020 NBA playoffs, and Saturday’s game will also decide any potential tiebreaker between the teams.
Guard Eric Gordon did not play Thursday due to a bruised left shin, but the hope is that he’ll be back for Saturday’s game. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. Central from Vivint Smart Home Arena.
