HOUSTON – Perhaps the biggest strategic question mark with this Warriors team is whether it has enough secondary shot creation around Steph Curry to generate offense in the most tense moments when the motion slows down.

Saturday night in Houston, the Rockets were the first team to really test that perceived weakness. After shooting the Warriors out to a 31-point lead in the first half, Ime Udoka went small in the second half and let his rangy group of young wings switch everything up, pressuring the full court and forcing the Warriors to create and counter them score off the dribble. .

The strategy turned the game around. Houston outscored the Warriors by 28 points in the second half and even briefly led. The Warriors appeared panicked and struggled to even cross half court several times. A match that seemed out of reach went into extra time. The Warriors ultimately won 127-121, but the shaky path to victory was informative.

The Warriors were without Curry due to a sprained left ankle for the third straight game, forcing Brandin Podziemski to take some of the ball-handling spotlight. In a few key moments in the fourth quarter, Podziemski had his dribble cleared by Amen Thompson and Tari Eason, part of a 13-0 Rockets run to open the quarter.

But Podziemski responded, stepping up his dribbling and delivering three of the biggest buckets of the night in critical time. Podziemski said he has spent part of his summer training becoming a better isolation scorer against bigger defenders, believing he has a higher offensive ceiling than many predict.

“If teams try to speed you up, play slower,” Podziemski said.

Here is the first of Podziemski’s three consecutive successes near the end of regulation. He kept Jalen Green on his back with a left diagonal dribble toward the left block, then spun back to the right and sent both Green and Jabari Smith Jr. flying. into the air with a pump fake, creating an opening for another spin and an easy left hook.

Of the three, Podziemski’s second clutch mark was perhaps his most impressive. The Warriors lined him up against Thompson, a 6-foot-4 wing known for his elite defensive tools, and Podziemski patiently backed him into the lane and snuck a layup past him. Ninety seconds later he beat another much taller defender, Smith, with another methodical drive and spin, finishing with a 10-foot fadeaway. Here are both brands.

Those three shots put the Warriors within six with 51 seconds left.

“It wasn’t Fred (VanVleet) who targeted him,” Draymond Green said. “He took Amen to the post a few times. He tackles bigger guys and makes shots. As much as I want to applaud his skill, that’s his heart. That’s ‘I want the ball right then and there and I’ll do whatever I can to score this basketball.’ Obviously his footwork is great. But that’s sheer will and determination. That’s why he leads the league in plus/minus.”

For nearly a decade, the Warriors rarely blew a two-possession lead in the final minute of a game. They’ve done it a handful of times in recent seasons, most memorably during a tough stretch last season in which they coughed up back-to-back road games to the Kings and Clippers.

The closing seconds on Saturday felt a bit like a season ago. The Warriors led by five with 19 seconds left. Smith hit a 3 to cut the score to two. Podziemski accidentally dribbled the inbound ball into trouble before calling a timeout, meaning the Warriors could not advance the ball any further. They drew the ensuing play with no outlet in the backcourt, leading to a go-ahead turnover.

“We put Draymond in a tough situation,” Kerr said.

That allowed the Rockets to go into overtime, which has been a dangerous situation for the Warriors as of late. They had lost 11 straight overtime games on the road before Saturday. Green was fouled at the end of regulation. Podziemski made a mistake after mistake after 90 seconds. They were without all of their primary ballhandlers against a Rockets team that had turned up the pressure.

Kerr discussed the best strategy with his staff and settled on defense, putting Kevon Looney, Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga and Kyle Anderson on the floor, believing that group could hold off a tiring Rockets unit.

The strategy worked. The Warriors held the Rockets to 2 points in the five minutes of overtime. But they still needed to generate points to win, and that’s where Kuminga’s skill as a scorer got them across the finish line.

Kuminga spent much of his summer honing much of his skills as a goalscorer and passer. He wants to be a complete player, even though his assigned role with the Warriors often limits his responsibility. He worked hard on his midrange work, and it came in handy during one of the most important possessions of the night.

The Warriors identified Jalen Green as Houston’s weak link and called for a screen to get him on a switch to Kuminga. Kuminga attacked his former G League Ignite teammate, spun back and hit a smooth fadeaway over Thompson’s late double.

“I worked on it a lot,” Kuminga said. “It’s not something I just did.”

Kuminga’s next two overtimes, which could be considered the daggers in a low-scoring five-minute period, came in exactly the manner Kerr and his coaching staff prefer. Here’s the first: Kuminga starts this transition possession under the rim, but rushes past everyone with his elite speed and then bursts into a smooth left layup before the Rockets can get back.

With 1:20 to go, he takes Smith off the dribble and makes his way to the rim for another left layup.

That gave Kuminga 23 points in his 26 minutes, his third straight productive game off the bench after three lackluster performances in the starting lineup to open the season. He made two threes, grabbed six rebounds and made his way to the line for 10 free throws, attacking post-mismatches.

“I don’t want him to like coming off the bench,” Green said. ‘He believes he is a superstar. I believe he is a superstar. As long as you believe that, it shouldn’t be okay to get off the couch. How you respond is important. You can react sulkily. Or you can do what you can do to help the team win. That’s what he does. We have to talk not only about his game, but also about his maturity.”

Draymond Green on Jonathan Kuminga: “You shouldn’t like coming off the bench. But how you react is important… We have to talk not only about his game, but also about his maturity.’ pic.twitter.com/glkuHef8qJ

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 3, 2024

Green said Looney came into the locker room after the game and told the team that this was a game the Warriors definitely would have lost a season ago. They haven’t recovered and stabilized often after building big leads over the past three seasons. They did that in Houston, improving their record to 5-1, while Curry could be back in Washington, DC, as soon as Monday

(Photo of Jonathan Kuminga shooting against Jabari Smith Jr. during overtime on Saturday night: Tim Warner / Getty Images)