Houston Rockets defeat Golden State Warriors without James Harden

OAKLAND, California -- Eric Gordon scored 25 points with four 3-pointers, Chris Paul converted two free throws with 1:08 left on the way to 23 points, and the Houston Rockets outplayed the Golden State Warriors without ill NBA scoring leader James Harden for a 118-112 victory Saturday night.

Stephen Curry's 3-pointer with 1:57 to play pulled the Warriors to 114-108 then his two free throws at 1:26 made it a 4-point game before Houston came through at the line.

Kevin Durant scored 29 points and Curry added 25 with five 3-pointers, nine rebounds and seven assists as the Warriors had their 5-game home winning streak snapped in a matchup of West powers who met in the 2018 Western Conference finals won in seven games by Golden State.

Early in the fourth, Golden State's Draymond Green exited the game with a sprained left ankle after grabbing at his foot in clear pain from stepping on teammate DeMarcus Cousins' foot.

Paul had out 11 of his season-high 17 assists in the first half to reach 9,000 for his career, helping Houston avoid a third straight road loss.

Cousins notched his third straight double-double with 13 points and a season-best 14 rebounds, while Klay Thompson scored 20 and had six assists.

Curry's three in the final 30 seconds of the first half and a jumper to beat the buzzer by Andre Iguodala got Golden State to 61-54 at halftime after the two-time defending champions trailed by 20.

While Harden also has a strained neck, coach Mike D'Antoni said the reigning MVP and league scoring leader probably could have played through that.

Harden hurt the neck when he got hit during a practice leading up to Thursday's road loss to the Lakers and woke up sore the next day.

"He might've played even with a sore neck, he had a little touch of the flu. It was a combination of everything," D'Antoni said.

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