De’Anthony Melton converted a second-chance basket with 5.3 seconds remaining, and the short-handed Golden State Warriors held on for a 115-113 overtime victory over the host Houston Rockets on Thursday.
Melton corralled a missed tip shot by Gui Santos and scored to give the Warriors a 115-112 lead. The Rockets failed to knot the score on the previous possession when Kevin Durant missed the third of three free throws after he was fouled with 29.9 seconds remaining.
Melton finished with 23 points and six rebounds for the Warriors, who were without Stephen Curry and Kristaps Porzingis in addition to Jimmy Butler III, who was ruled out for the season in January due to a torn ACL. Brandin Podziemski paced the Warriors with 26 points and nine rebounds, including five points early in overtime that yielded a 111-106 lead.
Reed Sheppard led Houston with 30 points, six 3-pointers and six assists, and Durant added 23 points. Amen Thompson posted a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds while Alperen Sengun posted 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Al Horford had 17 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Warriors while Santos chipped in 14, six and six.
A spirited close to regulation featured a three-point play and two hook shots from Sengun and timely 3s from Melton and Horford, who gave the Warriors a 101-99 lead with 45.2 seconds left before Sengun forced overtime with his third basket inside the final 1:42.
Golden State appeared to have enough to keep the Rockets at bay in the third. But after the Warriors pushed to a 77-69 lead on consecutive 3s from LJ Cryer, Houston clawed back and took its first lead at 80-79 as Thompson followed his corner 3 with a steal and transition dunk.
The Warriors’ hot start from behind the arc resulted in a double-digit lead by the 4:27 mark of the opening period, with a Melton trey extending the margin to 22-11. The Warriors started 3 for 7 on 3-pointers before cooling off, but the cushion they established from their perimeter proficiency combined with 18 points in the paint yielded a 30-20 lead entering the second.
For every Houston surge in the second quarter, the Warriors fashioned a response. After the Rockets sliced the 10-point deficit to three, Horford and Podziemski nailed 3-pointers.
The Rockets finally answered with an extended run, a 10-0 rally featuring 3-pointers from Josh Okogie and Durant that knotted the score at 45-45 with 1:25 remaining in the first half.
But two Santos layups inside the final minute enabled the Warriors to take a 51-47 halftime lead.
