Tale of the tape: Curry and Durant meet for the 41st time as the Warriors visit Houston

Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant meet for the 41st time tonight, and both teams walk in at 8-3. The Warriors visit the Rockets at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN at Toyota Center in Houston, with Golden State chasing a ninth straight win.

Tale of the tape

| | Warriors | Rockets | |---|---|---| | Record | 8-3 (2-2 road) | 8-3 (5-1 home) | | Points per game | 120.4 | 115.5 | | Points allowed | 111.2 | 106.4 | | 3-point % | 40 | 38 | | Scoring leader | Stephen Curry, 30.6 | Alperen Sengun, 21.3 | | Streak | Won 8 | Won 1 |

Numbers are from ESPN's game page. Sengun also leads Houston at 9.0 rebounds and 7.8 assists.

Curry vs. Durant, by the numbers

The NBA's preview thread puts Durant's teams ahead 24-16 in the first 40 meetings. Durant has averaged 29.5 points and 8.4 rebounds in those games, Curry 25.5 points and 6.3 assists. Curry owns the one playoff series between them, the 2016 Western Conference finals, when Golden State came back from 3-1 down against Oklahoma City. As teammates they went 164-46 with two titles.

The two are 38 years old, in Durant's 20th season and Curry's 18th. Curry is shooting 50.3% from the field, 45.7% from 3 and 98.7% at the line, per the league. Durant is scoring 21 points a game, his lowest since his rookie year, on 49.6% shooting. Durant sits fifth on the career scoring list and Curry 16th.

Last April's meeting set the bar. Durant had 31 points, Curry had 29 and Sengun won it with a late layup, per the NBA.

Who's missing

Golden State is without Kristaps Porzingis, Gary Payton II, Moses Moody and Brandon Williams, and Will Richard is day-to-day. Houston is without centers Clint Capela and Steven Adams, which puts more of the inside work on Sengun.

Why it matters

DraftKings, via ESPN, has Houston favored by 6.5 with a 219.5 total, and ESPN's predictor gives the Rockets a 67.2% chance. Tonight tests whether Golden State's streak holds up on the road against a top West team. It's also one more meeting between two stars who won two titles together.