Mar 31, 2017 OAKLAND, Calif. -- When the Houston Rockets visit the Golden State Warriors on Friday night, it will be a rematch of a game that had far greater significance three days earlier.When the clubs dueled in Houston on Tuesday, the Warriors were embarking upon arguably their most difficult back-to-back of the season. And they'd be doing it without injured forward Kevin Durant.The Warriors risked losing critical ground to the San Antonio Spurs in the race for top seeding in the Western playoffs when the back-to-back began, but they dispatched the Rockets and Spurs with relative ease, winning 113-106 at Houston and then 110-98 at San Antonio.The result: Golden State (61-14) has moved a virtually insurmountable 3 1/2 games up on the Spurs (57-17) as they head to the regular-season finish line with six home games and a visit to lowly Phoenix.The Warriors have won nine in a row since coach Steve Kerr's controversial decision to rest Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green instead of playing them in a nationally televised showdown with the Spurs on March 11."There's no question we've benefitted from resting guys," Kerr told reporters after Wednesday's win. "We're in a good groove. We've bounced back. We're fresh." The Rockets, meanwhile, have bounced backward. A threat to catch San Antonio for the second seeding when they took the court Tuesday to face the Warriors, the Rockets (51-24) have dropped two straight to fall solidly into the third position in the West.For them, getting Ryan Anderson (sprained ankle) and Montrezl Harrell (attending birth of child) back into the flow, and staying healthy in general, would have to be considered much more important than anything else over the final seven games.The Rockets have positioned themselves to rest key players down the stretch without risking losing playoff positioning. One guy who could use a break is James Harden, who played through a slightly sprained wrist to score 30 points Thursday night. However, he was limited to a season-low four assists in the loss."It will get better, but if I keep banging on it and keep falling on it, then it's going to keep going back to Square 1," Harden noted to reporters before Thursday's game. "I try to limit banging on it and keeping it away from contact, (but) it's kinda hard because it's my left hand. I do a lot with my left hand." Two days after missing 26 of their 31 3-point attempts in the loss to Golden State, the Rockets surpassed the Warriors as the NBA's greatest single-season, 3-point-shooting team when they made their record 1,078th of the season at Portland.Golden State set the previous mark of 1,077 last season.The Warriors (897) rank third behind the Rockets (1,083) and Cleveland Cavaliers (955) this season.Friday's game will feature the top four players in the NBA in made 3-pointers this season, with Warriors guards Curry (289) and Thompson (247) ranking 1-2, followed by Harden (238) and Eric Gordon (231).
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