Expectations were rather low as the Golden State Warriors hosted the Houston Rockets on Thursday night. The Rockets, who started the evening in second place in the Western Conference standings, have been doing well lately. The Warriors, on the other hand, had lost five games in a row… and, even more concerning, were without their two Hall of Famers, Steph Curry and Draymond Green.

It was a preview of Wednesday’s NBA Cup quarterfinal game, although the Dubs hope to have a healthier roster for that game. But they won’t be hoping for a different result because despite being so undermanned, they stopped the bleeding and took a big win, 99-93.

As the result suggests, it was all about defense. They quickly jumped out to a 6-0 lead behind five points from Jonathan Kuminga and led 11-3 more than five minutes into the game. While the defense continued to play well, the offense was able to catch up due to the lack of Curry and went ice cold. The Rockets prevailed, eventually overtaking the Dubs and ending the quarter with a 17-4 run to lead 22-18.

But the Dubs found the frame again at the start of the second quarter and the offense quickly got going again. But the game stalled again as the defense of both teams gained the upper hand. And although Houston led for most of the quarter, the Warriors shined in the final minutes, culminating in a four-point play by Andrew Wiggins with 12 seconds left, followed by a spectacular defensive possession by Wiggins that gave Golden State a 49-43 Lead at halftime.

Despite having their two most important players out, the Third Quarter Warriors showed up again, setting the tone in the second half with a 12-3 run to open things up. With a 61-46 lead, the Warriors set out to maintain the lead.

But Houston was on a roll. Shortly after halftime of the quarter, they went on a 10-0 run and pulled within four points. But the Warriors responded with a 6-0 run of their own, taking a 73-66 lead into the fourth quarter.

However, the momentum had changed and Houston came storming out of the gates in the fourth quarter. It felt like the Warriors were desperately trying to hold on to the lead, with Kuminga and Wiggins making successive heroic plays as the Chase Center crowd — and the sidelined Curry and Green — cheered them on. With about a minute left, Kuminga made one of the game’s crucial plays, stealing the ball and beating everyone in transition for a layup to extend the lead to six points.

But Houston quickly scored, which was countered by Kuminga with two free throws. The Rockets scored again in a two-on-one situation, making it a one-possession game. With the Dubs holding a three-point lead but the game far from over, Kuminga hit all the buttons on the controller, beat his man, separated two defenders and finished the game brilliantly at the rim. A successful defensive ball and a free throw from Wiggins later made it 99:93 and a big victory was certain.

Kuminga led the way with 33 points on 13-for-22 shooting, which was clearly his best game of the season. Wiggins excelled at a little bit of everything, scoring 23 points on 8-for-15 shooting while adding nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. In addition to scoring 55 of the team’s 99 points, these two were the only Warriors to score in double figures, although Brandin Podziemski (12) and Kevon Looney (11) both contributed double-digit rebounds as Golden State defeated Houston 54-45 on the glass .

The Warriors improve to 13-8 on the year and are 2-0 against the Rockets, although the teams still have three games left against each other. The Warriors have a chance to build on their win when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. PT.