Chris Paul’s bench unit carries, Steph Curry ices Warriors road win vs. Rockets

HOUSTON — In Chris Paul’s first career game off the bench, it was primarily his second unit that fueled the Warriors’ 106-95 win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night in Houston. Steph Curry put to rest a Rockets’ fourth-quarter rally with four straight 3-pointers late to ice the win.

The Warriors trailed by three when Steph Curry went to the bench midway through the first quarter. By the time he returned four-plus minutes into the second quarter, Paul and the second unit had given the Warriors a 39-26 lead, and they took a 10-point advantage into the half. The bench unit outscored Houston’s reserves 41-21 in the game. Curry finished with 24 points on 6-of-14 from 3, including 14 points in the fourth quarter.

Klay Thompson still carried the scoring, particularly in the first half, scoring 19 points on 5-of-10 from 3 (7-12 from the field). Gary Payton II had 15 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. Jonathan Kuminga had nine points and Paul had six points with seven assists.

In his season debut, Draymond Green had five rebounds, five assists and four points in 21 minutes. He was on a minutes restriction returning from his ankle sprain.