Late Rockets bucket spoils Stephen Curry’s return to Warriors

Stephen Curry returned from a two-month absence with 29 points, but Alperen Sengun capped a 24-point performance with a go-ahead interior hoop with 11.1 seconds remaining, lifting the Houston Rockets to a 117-116 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night in San Francisco.

In his first return to San Francisco as a member of the Rockets, Kevin Durant poured in a game-high 31 points for Houston (49-29), which moved within one game of the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets in their three-team duel for third place in the Western Conference.

Brandin Podziemski backed Curry with 18 points for the Warriors (36-42), who virtually assured themselves of the 10th seed in the Western play-in tournament.

Sengun's four-footer from the middle of the key came after Golden State had used a 17-6 burst to overtake the visitors on a Gary Payton II layup with 19.6 seconds remaining.

Golden State had a shot after the Sengun hoop, but Curry misfired under heavy pressure from 30 feet, capping a 5-for-10 effort from 3-point range.

Jabari Smith Jr. had 23 points, Amen Thompson 18 and Reed Sheppard 11 for the Rockets, who won their sixth straight. Durant also found time for a team-high eight assists and eight rebounds, one shy of Smith's nine for team honors in both categories.

Curry, who had missed 27 straight games since a Jan. 30 injury against Detroit, played 26 minutes, during which he hit 11 of his 21 shots. The Warriors had gone 9-18 in his 27 absences as he recovered from a sore right knee.

Gui Santos finished with 15 points and Payton 14 for the Warriors, who saw Kristaps Porzingis foul out with just nine points and a team-high eight rebounds after 23 minutes. Draymond Green collected a game-high 12 assists to go with seven points.

Up by 15 points in the third, the Rockets clung to a 109-99 advantage after a Thompson three-point play on a dunk before Curry nearly led a remarkable late comeback.

He assisted a Payton layup, buried a 28-footer and, a minute later, found Payton for another layup that closed the gap to 112-109 with 1:55 left.

Curry then made it a one-point game with a layup at the 1:27 mark, and once again when he countered a three-point play by Sengun with a 32-footer at the other end with 57.8 seconds to go.

After a Durant miss, Payton turned a Green assist into a 116-115 Warriors lead with 19.6 seconds left, setting up Sengun's heroics.