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The Golden State Warriors entered tonight’s game against the Houston Rockets with out their two best players, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. The Rockets on the other hand, had their starters in there for a large portion of the game. The Warriors were able to hang around in the first half, but the Rockets were able to pull away in the second half. In case you missed tonight’s action, here is our instant recap:

1st Quarter:

The Warriors were already struggling early on the defensive end. The Rockets were getting to the rim and getting buckets all around. The Rockets set the tempo on both ends and although the Warriors are without the “Splash Brothers”, they needed to have a better showing. Nemanja Nedovic started tonight and took advantage of the opportunity by scoring seven quick points, which kept the Warriors in the game. Nedovic’s energy proved to be contagious and the Warriors went on a 7-0 run to take a one point lead. Harrison Barnes also wanted to get into the action and with about four minutes remaining, he already had nine points. However, after his three point play, the Warriors were not able to score. Aaron Craft and Justin Holiday drained a couple of three pointers and the Warriors were able to maintain the lead.Barnes and Nedovic combined for 16 points and the Warriors lead 27-24.

2nd Quarter:

The Warriors once again had trouble scoring in the beginning of the quarter. The Rockets tried to pound the ball down low to take advantage of Ogjen Kuzmic. Kuzmic’s assignment was to guard Dwight Howard. The Rockets took an early lead in the second and the Warriors offense was non-existent. Luckily for them, the Rockets didn’t take advantage. After only scoring eight points in the first 10 minutes, the Rockets finally got some rhythm and went on a 8-0 run. The Rockets had their starters in, but the Warriors needed to execute better. Trevor Ariza and Howard both have 11 points and the Rockets held the Warriors to only 15 points in the second quarter. The Rockets led 49-42.

3rd Quarter:

Harden finally dropped in his first field goal from the field early in the third quarter. The Warriors didn’t begin this quarter like the first two. They scored early and got offense from tonight’s starting point guard Nedovic on a jumper and layup. Steve Kerr got called for another technical for complaining about a Kuzmic block which was called a foul. About 9 minutes to go in the third and the Warriors found themselves in a double digit deficit. A beautiful Nedovic pass made its way into the lane to Iguodala for a quick dunk. Nedovic continues to impress as he crosses and makes a Rocket fall to the deck on a behind the back dribble. Unfortunately, he didn’t make the jump shot. A little more than half way through the quarter and Kapono checked in for Iguodala. It was encouraging to see the Warriors reserves hang tough and keeping it a manageable deficit as Harden stayed on the floor with other starters Ariza and Motiejunas. The Warriors continue to stay in attacking distance but both teams looked sloppy. The Warriors lost the third by 5 points and the Rockets led 75-62.

4th Quarter:

Marreese Speights, Craft, Holiday, Kapono, and sparsely used Mitchell Watt start the fourth quarter. It took the bench nearly two and a half minutes to score on a Watt layup. Craft faced defensive pressure and struggled. He turned the ball over on consecutive possessions. Watt comes through with rim protection by making a huge swat on a dunk attempt. Turnovers began to kill the Warriors as the Rockets continued to score on the other end. Holiday showed off his shooting stroke; he sank a 20 footer. Following that make, Holiday continued to let them fly and made back to back three point baskets. The timeout doesn’t affect Holiday and he came out and continued to make long jumpers. McAdoo isn’t giving up; he finishes a contested dunk and on the other end, fouled Joey Dorsey hard to force him to try and score from the free throw line instead. With three minutes to go, the Warriors showed hustle and brought the lead to nine. Golden State forces another 24 second shot clock violation (3rd in the quarter). Craft found Holiday for another three-ball from the top of the arc. Kapono, Craft, and Watt took turns missing three balls in a desperate attempt to quickly shorten the lead. Holiday finishes with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting to lead the Warriors. The Warriors fell again; this time to Houston 90-83.