Smart ejected for punching Bassey as Warriors lose Curry to injury in defeat to Rockets

Kevin Durant scored 20 points, Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson added 19 and the Houston Rockets snapped Golden State’s eight-game winning streak with a 115-108 victory on Wednesday night.

The Warriors played most of the game without Stephen Curry after the star left in the first quarter with right abdominal soreness and didn’t return. He was due to get an MRI on the injury.

After the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted he was worried about the injury.

“Concern is high,” Kerr said. “But I have no idea the extent.”

The Warriors are 8-4 this season, despite a host of injuries. Even before Curry’s injury, Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody were missing with knee injuries while center Kristaps Porziņģis stepped away from basketball entirely over an undisclosed health issue.

Curry missed significant time last season, during which the Warriors struggled badly. But his fellow veteran Draymond Green believes the team can better absorb his absence this season.

“The spirit of this team is better,” Green said after Wednesday’s game. “We’re more certain of who we are, what makes us a good team. I think that puts us in a better position to be successful without him as opposed to where we were last year. Then obviously [Yaxel Lendeborg], having a guy you can give the ball to and he can create an advantage. [Brandin Podziemski] is playing a lot better. ... It puts us in a better position.”

Curry’s departure was not the only significant event of the night. Houston’s Marcus Smart was ejected late in the third quarter for punching Golden State’s Charles Bassey. It was unclear what started the altercation between the two, but Smart threw a punch that appeared to lightly strike Bassey’s nose.

Smart was immediately pushed away by two other Warriors and an official grabbed Bassey around the waist and pulled him away. Smart didn’t wait for the officials to eject him, heading straight to the locker room after he was pulled away. The play was reviewed and he was issued a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected before play resumed.

“I remember the first half, I was trying to set a screen [and] he grabbed my knee. He was playing dirty,” Bassey said after the game. “I think I was trying to get a rebound. He was grabbing my hand, and I was trying to run back on defense. Then he got up on me and just swung. Obviously, that was weak. I just think that was, honestly, fake toughness.

“It didn’t surprise me. I knew he was going to do something. I don’t think he was trying to play. I think he was trying to get himself out of the game. I think he was trying to chill. He wasn’t trying to hoop. That was fake toughness.”

Golden State’s longest winning streak since 2022 ended on a night they were held well below their season average of 120.4 points a game. Curry, who entered Wednesday ranked second in the NBA by averaging 30.6 points a game, had just three points before exiting.

With Curry out, the Warriors were led by Lendeborg, who had 25 points and 10 rebounds. Brandin Podziemski added 22 points.