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Steph Curry's botched dunk helps seal Warriors loss to Rockets


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A key part of being a great scorer is having a short memory and knowing how to put the misses behind you to focus on the next shot. Even so, Steph Curry would probably like this one back.

In the closing moments of overtime during Game 3 against the Houston Rockets on Saturday night and with the Golden State Warriors trailing by five, Curry broke free and had an unimpeded lane to the bucket. He rose up for what should have been an easy dunk to cut the deficit to three. Only it wasn't. Curry missed the slam, the ball bouncing off the front of the rim.

James Harden corralled the rebound, the Warriors opted not to foul and the Rockets dribbled out the final 20 seconds for a 126-121 win. The victory cut Golden State's series lead to 2-1.

Curry faced the music after the game. Asked what happened, he smiled and said it was "pretty self-explanatory."

Why not just lay it in?

"I was feeling pretty good, had a nice head of steam." Curry said. "Probably a little bit of frustration too with how the rest of the night went. But not my finest moment."

Curry finished with 17 points on 7-of-23 shooting, including 2-of-9 from 3-point range. It was the second consecutive game in the series under 40% from the field for Curry, who shot 47.2% during the regular season.

Kevin Durant poured in a game-high 46 points for the Warriors in the loss. Harden scored 41 points for the Rockets, while Eric Gordon added 30. Game 4 is Monday night in Houston.

Follow Matt Eppers on Twitter @meppers_.