Rockets Beat Warriors 115-108 as Smart Is Ejected for Punch and Curry Leaves Hurt

The Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors 115-108 on Wednesday night in Houston, ending Golden State's eight-game winning streak, while Rockets guard Marcus Smart was ejected for throwing a punch at Warriors center Charles Bassey. Kevin Durant scored 20 points for Houston, and Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson added 19 each. Warriors star Stephen Curry left in the first quarter with right abdominal soreness, did not return and was due to get an MRI. Coach Steve Kerr said his concern was high but he did not know the extent of the injury. The Warriors are 8-4 despite Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody being out with knee injuries and Kristaps Porziņģis stepping away from basketball over an undisclosed health issue. Draymond Green said the team's spirit is better than last year and it is better placed to cope without Curry. In the third quarter, Smart and Bassey tangled going for a rebound, kept jawing, and Smart threw a right-handed punch. Bassey said afterward that the move was weak and showed fake toughness, and that he expected Smart to do something.

Fox News, on the right, builds its story around Bassey. Its headline and opening focus on his postgame jabs at Smart, and it describes Bassey as staying calm with his arms at his side. It says the punch never landed and was broken up quickly, and the excerpt does not mention Curry's injury. The Guardian, on the left, leads with the result, Durant's scoring and Curry's injury, quoting Kerr and Green on the team's outlook. It treats Smart's ejection as another major event of the night, though its headline names it first. Both agree on the score, Smart's ejection and the third-quarter timing. ESPN, listed as alternative, reports only the punch and says it grazed Bassey's nose, which differs from Fox's account that it never landed.