A scorching-hot Steph Curry scored 12 of his 24 points in the final term to see the Golden State Warriors down the Houston Rockets 106-95 on Monday (all times AEDT).

After the Rockets led 87-85 midway through the fourth, Golden State went on a 15-2 run – including 12 to Curry by the way of four-straight triples to put the visitors up double figures.

Before the Warriors sharpshooter’s fourth triple, Curry crossed over Dillon Brooks then pump faked him in one of the plays of the game to cap off game-winning his heater.

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Curry’s reaction was priceless, hitting Houston with a surprised celebration to set social media alight.

Curry finished with a game-high 24 points, seven rebounds, six assists and six triples in a game Chris Paul (eight points, seven assists) came off the bench for the first time in his career after Draymond Green returned to the starting lineup in his return from injury.

Jalen Green led the Rockets with 21 points and nine assists, while Alperen Sengun had 19 points and seven assists.

With it, Golden State improved to 2-1 and won its 11th-straight game over Houston, who had its home opener spoiled to remain winless on the season at 0-3.

BUCKS SMASHED BY HAWKS AS DAME STRUGGLES

The Milwaukee Bucks have come crashing back down to earth in a lopsided 127-110 defeat to the previously winless Atlanta Hawks as Damian Lillard fell away badly from his debut for his new side.

There was always going to be some growing pains for Lillard and the new-look Bucks, but this was grim.

Lillard finished with only six points on 2-of-12 shooting – including not scoring his first bucket until there was three minutes remaining in the third term – and committed six turnovers in a forgettable outing.

If not for hitting a three-pointer in garbage time that took him to six points, Lillard could’ve had his lowest ever scoring performance, scoring four points on three occasions.

It came after the superstar guard went off for 39 points in his first game for the Bucks in a win over Philadelphia last week as Adrian Griffin side’s offence was firing on all cylinders, but it couldn’t have been a more different story on Monday.

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The Hawks powered ahead by 20-plus points after dominating the second term 37-22. Despite having two of the best players in the world, the Bucks’ response in the second half never came.

Atlanta went up by as much as 23 at one stage during the third and never looked like letting Milwaukee back in the game, with Trae Young hitting two threes early in the fourth to pretty well shut the door on their Eastern Conference rivals.

Griffin played Giannis Antentoukoumpo throughout the final quarter and briefly brought Lillard back into the game despite his side’s heavy deficit, but it became clear the Bucks weren’t going to get back into this one as both coaches pulled their starter with five minutes left on the clock.

Young’s 20 points led eight Hawks players in double figures, with Quin Snyder’s squad desperate to get its first win of the season and improve to 1-2, while Milwaukee fell to 1-1.

Antentoukoumpo posted 26 points and 11 rebounds for the visitors, who were without Khris Middleton due to injury management.

THUNDER REALITY CHECK AS NUGS STAY UNDEFEATED

The Denver Nuggets are the NBA’s reigning champions for a reason and proved it on Monday morning, outclassing the Oklahoma City Thunder 128-95.

The Thunder, who were previously undefeated on the back of wins over the Bulls and Cavaliers, had been led by 31 and 34-point efforts from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in those games.

On Monday, however, the Nuggets did well to disrupt Gilgeous-Alexander and limit the OKC superstar to just seven points after an off shooting night for the 25-year-old.

Gilgeous-Alexander was just 2-of-16 from the floor and his seven-point total tied his lowest-ever outing for the Thunder.

“They’re defending champs, and they’re not that by fluke,” the Canadian said post-game.

“They play the right way on both ends of the floor and they are a really good basketball team. They came to play tonight. We weren’t good enough to compete against them.”

Australian Josh Giddey didn’t fare much better, shooting 4-of-13 from the floor to finish with nine points to go with three assists, two rebounds and a steal.

Chet Holmgren led the way for OKC with a team-high 19 points while 19-year-old rookie Cason Wallace continues to impress with his 3-point shooting and overall maturity on the floor.

Wallace had seven points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in 22 minutes off the bench and adds to what is a promising young core at Oklahoma City.

As for the defending champions, the big three of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. combined for 67 points.

Jokic stuffed the stat sheet with 28 points, 14 rebounds and five assists while Porter Jr. made four 3-pointers in the win.

What would have been particularly pleasing for coach Michael Malone though was the production from Christian Braun (13 points, seven rebounds, seven assists) and Peyton Watson (17 points, four rebounds, one steal, one block) off the bench.

The bench was the biggest question mark for Denver heading into the new season following the departures of Bruce Brown and Jeff Green in free agency.

While still a young group, the second unit has impressed in the early stages of the season and should only grow in confidence.

Watson’s defence was always going to be his biggest strength but the second-year forward flashed his enormous potential on the offensive end on Monday too.

“I love the way Peyton is playing,” Malone said.

“He’s playing very aggressive and confident on offense. He’s being disruptive on defence and he’s helping us in a lot of different areas.”

Speaking of defence, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was singled out by coach Malone post-game for his efforts in helping shut down Gilgeous-Alexander.

“You’ve got to credit guys like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who I think is an all-NBA defender,” Malone said.

“You know, we asked him to guard the best players [in] 82 regular season games and 20 playoff games last year and he’s totally committed to that. He understands that that’s his greatest gift to this basketball team.”

ALL CURRENT RESULTS

NUGGETS 128 THUNDER 95

HAWKS 127 HAWKS 110

WARRIORS 106 ROCKETS 95

TRAIL BLAZERS 98 76ERS 126

LAKERS – KINGS

SPURS – CLIPPERS