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Warriors-Rockets Preview

Dec 31, 2015 - 10:58 PM The Golden State Warriors have survived an injury to their head coach, but they're clearly not the same without their best player.

Coming off their worst loss in nearly three years, the Warriors conclude a brief road trip Thursday night against the Houston Rockets with Stephen Curry out again.

With Curry unavailable due to a bruised lower left leg, the Warriors had by far their worst performance under interim coach Luke Walton in Wednesday's 114-91 loss at Dallas. They trailed by as many as 30 in their most lopsided defeat since a 140-109 setback at Houston on Feb. 5, 2013.

Golden State shot 40.7 percent while failing to replace Curry's league-leading 30.5 points per game. Klay Thompson managed just 10 points and Draymond Green had 11 as both finished 4 of 15 from the field.

''We had great looks," Thompson said. "It was just one of those nights.''

The Warriors (29-2), second in the NBA with a 48.3 percent field goal percentage, shot under 41 percent for only the third time during their historic 31-game start with Walton running the team as Steve Kerr recovers from back surgery. One came during the Dec. 12 loss at Milwaukee that halted their 28-game regular-season winning streak, the other in a double-overtime win at Boston a night earlier.

''He's one of those rare players in this league that affects the entire game just by being on the court,'' Walton said of Curry. ''Obviously without him the spacing won't be as good.''

Curry will sit again Thursday, a move the erratic Rockets surely won't mind. The reigning MVP averaged 31.2 points while shooting 49.1 percent on 3-pointers to lead the Warriors past Houston in five games during last season's Western Conference finals. He then scored 25 in 27 minutes in a 112-92 rout at Houston on Oct. 30 for Golden State's ninth win in the past 10 matchups, including the postseason.

Curry isn't the only Golden State player ailing. Harrison Barnes remains sidelined with an ankle sprain, reserve guard Leandro Barbosa (sprained shoulder) is expected to miss a third straight game and center Festus Ezeli (toe) also sat out Wednesday.

Houston (16-17) is relatively healthy with forward Terrence Jones over an illness that kept him out of Tuesday's game against Atlanta, though it's hardly in top form. After dropping a 110-108 decision at struggling New Orleans on Saturday, the Rockets squandered a 16-point third-quarter lead in a 121-115 loss to the Hawks.

The Rockets shot a torrid 69.2 percent during a 71-point first half but 36.4 percent after the break, and had 11 of their 20 turnovers over the final two quarters.

"We gave up too many offensive rebounds and we turned the basketball over," guard James Harden said. "We're kind of beating ourselves in that aspect."

Harden was 6 of 16 from the field and is shooting 36.2 percent over a three-game stretch, though Dwight Howard ended 10 of 12 for a season-high 30 points and added 16 rebounds.

Howard wasn't much of a factor in the teams' previous meeting, mustering nine points on 4 of 11 shooting while saddled with foul trouble much of the night.