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Klay Thompson scores 38 as Warriors beat Rockets

Kristie Rieken Associated Press

HOUSTON – Klay Thompson scored 38 points and the Golden State Warriors overcame star Stephen Curry’s absence to beat the Houston Rockets 114-110 on Thursday night.

Golden State was blown out by Dallas on Wednesday night for just its second loss of the season when Curry missed his first game since March because of a sore left lower leg. But the Warriors were able to outlast the Rockets thanks to the big night by Thompson, who made six 3s.

Houston cut it to three points with a jump shot by James Harden with about 5 minutes left before Golden State scored the next six points, highlighted by an alley-oop dunk from Andre Iguodala to Andrew Bogut, to make it 111-102.

Harden had 30 points for the Rockets. They have dropped seven straight regular-season games to the Warriors.

Shaun Livingston made his second start of the season in place of Curry, who was injured Monday night against Sacramento, and finished with 13 points. Interim coach Luke Walton said Curry was feeling better Thursday, but that he was not ready to play. Before he sat out Wednesday, last season’s MVP hadn’t missed a game since March 13.

Draymond Green had 10 points and a career-high 16 assists for the Warriors.

The Warriors led by eight entering the fourth quarter and had scored four straight points to extend their lead to 99-87 with about nine minutes remaining. Houston used a 13-5 run after that to cut the lead to 104-100 with about 6 minutes left. Dwight Howard scored four points in that stretch and Harden capped it with a 3-pointer.

The game was tied after a 3-pointer by Thompson with about 9 minutes left in the third quarter before Houston used a 6-2 run, capped by a dunk from Howard, to take a 74-70 lead midway through the quarter.

Houston led by 3 points about 3 minutes later when Golden State scored 10 straight points to take a 88-80 lead with less than a minute left in the quarter. Thompson scored five points in that span and Iguodala added a 3-pointer before James Michael McAdoo capped it with a dunk following a turnover by Ty Lawson.