Golden State brings eight straight wins to Houston, and Stephen Curry hasn’t had to do all the scoring. The Warriors have reached 30 assists in three straight games, and two teammates scored at least 23 alongside Curry on Monday. Wednesday’s test is whether those second options still produce when Houston takes away the first look.
Can Houston make the next pass harder?
Brandin Podziemski matched Curry’s 25 points and Yaxel Lendeborg added 23 in the 138–87 win over New Orleans. Golden State had 37 assists. The Pelicans played without Zion Williamson and Trey Murphy III, so the margin says less about Wednesday than the distribution of those points: Houston has to account for what happens after Curry gives up the ball.
DraftKings had Houston favored by 6.5 in the pregame snapshot. The Rockets get an A in our team defensive grades and held Denver, Boston and Oklahoma City to 100 points or fewer in their last three home wins. Minnesota scored 117 in a Houston home loss in the same stretch. Getting stops has helped the Rockets pull away, but they still have to score at the other end to keep that separation.
Denver erased a 16-point deficit while Houston missed nine straight shots in the Rockets’ 110–100 win. When Denver got within four in the fourth, Alperen Sengun scored inside and Fred VanVleet hit a three to push the lead back to nine. That’s a useful stretch to keep in mind for the spread: even if Houston disrupts the Warriors’ passing, its own answers after a dry spell can decide whether the game stays close.
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What the two wins tell us about 220.5
Golden State scored 138 on Monday and the game still finished only a few points above Wednesday’s total of 220.5. Houston and Denver finished at 210 despite Jamal Murray scoring 38. There’s a useful distinction for this matchup: Houston can build a lead by getting stops, but that same stretch does little for the total if neither team gets easy baskets. Watch whether Golden State turns Curry’s passes into shots before Houston can reset, and whether Houston can convert those stops into points of its own.
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