Houston, Jan 1 (EFE; odds by IDSca.com).- Shooting guard Klay Thompson lifted the Golden State Warriors in the absence of his superstar backcourt mate, scoring 38 points in a 114-110 victory here over the Houston Rockets.

The Warriors (30-2) suffered just their second loss of the season – a blowout 114-91 road defeat at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks – on Wednesday night when reigning league MVP Stephen Curry sat out with a sore lower leg.

But despite missing Curry and another injured starter, small forward Harrison Barnes, the Warriors overcame the challenge Thursday night to record a gritty victory at the Toyota Center in Houston.

Thompson went 6-of-11 from 3-point range, power forward Draymond Green notched his fifth triple-double of the season and Andre Iguodala led a group of four reserves who made big contributions.

The Warriors did not take control of the contest until the latter part of the fourth quarter, when an alley-oop from Iguodala to center Andrew Bogut gave the Warriors a seven-point cushion with just three minutes remaining.

Iguodala went 6-of-7 from the field, made two of his three 3-pointers and connected on six of his seven foul shots, while Green scored 10 points, recorded a career-high 16 assists and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Green became just the sixth non-guard since the 1985-1986 season to dish out 16 or more assists in a game, joining Mark Aguirre, Larry Bird, Boris Diaw, LeBron James and Hedo Turkoglu.

Bogut also made a sizable contribution with nine points and 11 rebounds.

The Rockets (16-18), who got 30 points from star shooting guard James Harden, continued to play poorly in crucial moments of games to drop their third straight contest. EFE

As the New Year begins, the Warriors are the top pick among odds makers to retain their NBA title. According to IDSca.com, a leading Pay-Per-Head (PPH) provider based in Costa Rica, local sportsbooks are seeing odds between +500 to +125 in favor  of the Warriors to come up victorious at the NBA Finals later this year.