Stephen Curry marked his return from a two-month absence with 29 points but ended up on the losing side as the Houston Rockets edged the Golden State Warriors 117-116 in San Francisco.
The Rockets’ Alperen Sengun capped a 24-point performance with a go-ahead interior hoop with 11.1 seconds remaining, sealing his team’s victory on Sunday night.
In his first return to San Francisco as a member of the Rockets, former Warriors star Kevin Durant poured in a game-high 31 points for Houston (49-29).
Durant also found time for a team-high eight assists and eight rebounds, one shy of Smith’s nine for team honours in both categories.
The Rockets have now moved within one game of the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets in their three-team duel for third place in the Western Conference.
Brandin Podziemski backed Curry with 18 points for the Warriors (36-42), who have virtually assured themselves of the 10th seed in the Western play-in tournament.
Sengun’s four-footer from the middle of the key came after Golden State used a 17-6 burst to overtake the visitors on a Gary Payton II layup with 19.6 seconds remaining.
Golden State had a shot after Sengun’s hoop, but Curry misfired under heavy pressure from 30 feet, capping a 5-for-10 effort from three-point range.
Jabari Smith Jr had 23 points, Amen Thompson 18 and Reed Sheppard 11 for the Rockets, who won their sixth straight game.
Curry, who had missed 27 straight games since a January 30 injury against Detroit, played 26 minutes, during which he hit 11 of his 21 shots.
Coming off the bench in the regular season for the first time in 14 years, Curry was greeted by a warm standing ovation and greetings on the big screen when he entered with 4:54 left in the opening quarter.
“He’s one of the most beloved players in league history, Bay Area history in any sport, and I think a long absence like this reminds everybody how lucky we are to see him, to watch him, to coach him, to play with him,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “So tonight’s a special night because we’re reminded of how lucky we’ve been and how lucky we still are.”
Kerr said before the game that it is still unclear how many of the remaining games Curry will play, given Golden State have five contests in eight days with a back-to-back the rest of the way – and the expectation is he would not play on consecutive nights.
“We’re going to manage it accordingly. The plan for tonight would be shorter bursts, and we’ll see on the minutes,” Kerr said. “But first game back, he’s not playing 48 minutes.”
DW Deutsch 
ESPN 
