Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Klay Thompson was relieved to finally snap a streak of 11 consecutive road losses after beating the Houston Rockets 121-108 on Monday.
The Warriors came into the clash against their once-heated rivals with the third-worst away record in the NBA at 7-29, having not won away from Chase Center since January 30.
It was far from smooth sailing against the 18-54 Rockets, as the home side pulled in front late in the third quarter, but the ‘Splash Brothers’ combination of Thompson and Stephen Curry refused to let another one slip.
They combined for 21 points in the final period, and 59 for the game as they each finished with five made three-pointers.
When asked after the win about Golden State’s recent trouble on the road, Thompson said: “I think trouble would be an understatement – it’s been a rollercoaster on the road this year.
“You’ll take any win you can get, especially at this point of the season. We’re fighting for our playoff lives and we responded well after a beatdown in Memphis.”
While the current Rockets team is a far cry from the juggernaut that pushed the Kevin Durant-led Warriors to a seven-game series back in 2018, Thompson said he still uses those memories as motivation when he heads to Houston.
“We didn’t look at their record,” he said. “I actually told myself I was pretending we were playing the 2018 Rockets, where it was a battle every time we used to play those guys,
“They’re still young, they’re talented, and you can’t take anybody lightly. Every win we get is just a huge win, so I think we all understood that going into the game, and although it was close there I think we did a good job in the second half of playing our brand of ball.
“[We need] extreme urgency, we’ve got to take every game so seriously. You always do – 82 games, it’s tough to be great all of them – but nine left, we have to treat these like a playoff buffer, and I know we will.”
Head coach Steve Kerr told reporters he could not even remember their last away victory, and believed his team got away with a mediocre performance.
“It’s been a long time,” he said. “I don’t remember the last road game we won – it’s been a while.
“January 30th? Thanks, that doesn’t make me feel any better. But we needed it, obviously.
“I actually felt like we played decently in the first three games of this trip – lost all three, but had our chances in all three. I liked our effort, I liked a lot of our execution.
“Ironically, I thought this was the worst of the four games we’ve played on this trip, but obviously we were playing a different calibre of team.
“The first three we were battling against those teams for the playoffs – Memphis have won of the best records in the league – and Houston have had a rough season.
“We had to come in tonight with a focus that was unfortunately not there – that was the issue with the first half – but eventually we got there.”
The win, combined with the Dallas Mavericks’ loss, meant the Warriors leapfrogged them out of the play-in tournament placings and up into the sixth seed, where they have a half-game buffer on the chasing pack.