Big game without all stars Harden and Durant

NBA night...Big game ahead of us!!!

Houston Rockets vs Golden State Warriors

Warriors travel to Houston on Thursday to finish their first set of back-to-back games of the new year. This will be the second of three matchups between the Warriors and Rockets this season, after Houston pulled out a one point victory in their first encounter back in the first game of the season.

Durant and Harden are out and surely it wouldn`t be so special match without this two stars.

Kevin Durant and James Harden

 But Curry is out there and crazy duel expecting us Curry vs Paul!!!!

Stephen Curry vs Chris Paul

 It seems pretty clear Stephen Curry took full advantage of his recovery from an ankle injury, as he’s been as good as ever since he returned following an 11-game absence. As if his 38-point, 10 three-pointer debut against the Grizzlies in Golden State’s final game of 2017 wasn’t enough, Curry backed up that performance and possibly topped it with a 32-point, eight assist effort against the Mavericks on Wednesday, which included a game-winning three-pointer. It was his sixth career game-winning shot with under five seconds remaining, and oddly enough three of those six have come against Dallas

Chris Paul, who was acquired via trade in the offseason, has been his usual dominant self, and is currently joined by super-sup Eric Gordon in the Rockets’ starting backcourt. 

Stephen Curry vs Chris Paul

The Warriors haven’t seen the Rockets since the first game of the season, and they’ll look considerably different when they encounter them again on Thursday. That’s because James Harden, who leads the NBA in scoring with an average of 32.3 points per game, recently suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain and will be out for at least the next two weeks. Still, the Rockets are in great position, as their 27-9 record trails only Golden State for the top spot in the West. Thursday’s game will feature the two highest scoring teams as the league

The Warriors and Rockets will meet just three times this season, meaning a Houston victory on Thursday would give them the head-to-head tiebreaker in the season series.

LAST GAME'S STARTERS 

GSW: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Zaza Pachulia 
HOU: Chris Paul, Eric Gordon, Trevor Ariza, Ryan Anderson and Clint Capela

INJURY & ROSTER NOTES 

GSW: Kevin Durant (right calf strain) is out. Omri Casspi (mid back strain) is questionable. 

HOU: James Harden (Grade 2 hamstring strain), Luc Mbah a Moute (right shoulder dislocation), Chinanu Onuaku (illness) and Troy Williams (right knee MCL sprain) are out. Demetrius Jackson and Zhou Qi are on G League assignment.