Steph Curry took control late in a Warriors victory even though the team was down.

On Sunday night, the Golden State Warriors trounced the Houston Rockets 106-95. With two wins in as many away games this season, the Dubs are currently 2-1 overall.

Chris Paul made his NBA debut coming off the bench when Warriors forward Draymond Green returned to the starting lineup. In his first official game action since the previous season, Green was especially shaky and appeared to slow down a starting five that had settled into a rhythm with CP3 in his stead. Green must be incorporated into the starting lineup for the Warriors.

The Warriors had an erratic start, but the Rockets managed to just take a six-point advantage. Furthermore, Paul was helpless against the rather inexperienced Rockets bench rotation. Between the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second, Golden State’s second unit—Paul, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Dario Šarić, and Gary Payton II—led a 27-8 run that gave Golden State their highest lead of the game, 16 points.

Payton scored the majority of his 15 points in the first half, which made his оffensive performance especially impressive. He shot 6-for-8 from the field (3-for-4 from three) at the end of the game. Naturally, Payton’s strong defense and effective shooting allowed him to finish with a game-high +13 plus/minus.

The bench had established a lead for Golden State, but the starting lineup was unable to build on it, and they soon started giving ground to Houston. There was not a one outstanding play that propelled the Rockets. Rather, four of Houston’s five starters lead the pace and finish in double figures. Fred Van Vleet, the point guard, was the only Rockets starter who failed to score in double figures. The game might have gone quite differently if Van Vleet had started strong from the start.

Over the rest of the third quarter, the Rockets gradually chipped away at the Warriors lead. They tied the game early in the fourth and even briefly took the lead halfway through the last quarter. Nevertheless, Steph Curry took over the game after it had been mostly uneventful up until then. Curry made four straight three-pointers for the Dubs, putting the game out of reach. He had 22 points (6 of 15 from the field), 5 rebounds, and 6 assists by the end of the game.

 

For the second straight game, Klay Thompson played with quiet efficiency, scoring 19 points on just 12 field goals (5 of 10 from three).

The Dubs’ early-season road journey takes them to New Orleans, where they play the Pelicans tomorrow night at 5:00 PM Pacific.