In the second quarter of the Golden State Warriors' 109-106 win over the Houston Rockets, Stephen Curry and Dillon Brooks got into a dust-up that had the officials whistle both of them (as well as Draymond Green) for a technical foul. Brooks, after getting Curry on a switch, bumped into the Warriors star, knocking him over to the ground as a result. After Curry got up, Brooks tried to get into his head by snatching the ball away from him, but the Warriors star decided that he wasn't about to get punked and shoved the Rockets wing in return.

But before the shoving match ensued, Curry held up a “two” sign with his fingers to remind Brooks of how many fouls he had at the time. This may have been what agitated the Rockets wing further, leading to both of their technical fouls. But on the prior possession, Brooks began everything by reminding Curry that he had just one foul (perhaps as a reminder that he can still play physical defense against the Warriors star).

Following the game, Curry expressed his frustration that he was called for a technical foul when he was simply responding in kind to how Brooks was treating him.

“That was so stupid because he had did it literally the play before, and I just returned the favor. But they didn't see him. They saw me. It's like siblings — the second ones will get in trouble,” Curry said in his postgame presser, via 95.7 The Game on X (formerly on Twitter).

Regardless, it was Curry and the Warriors who had the last laugh against Brooks and the Rockets. They took a 3-1 lead in the series, inching ever so closely to a trip to the second round of the playoffs, and it'll be quite the vindication of their efforts if they do manage to fully overcome a Rockets team that's fully intent on making life as miserable as possible for them.

Stephen Curry, Warriors are nearly in the clear vs. the Rockets

Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) celebrated
Apr 28, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) celebrated sight guard Stephen Curry (30) after a play against the Houston Rockets during the first quarter of game four of the 2025 NBA Playoffs first round at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

All series long, the Rockets have been testing the limits of what the NBA constitutes as legal defense. They have been holding onto Stephen Curry like ants drawn to a sugar cube, with Amen Thompson, Dillon Brooks, and Fred VanVleet taking turns guarding the Warriors star.

Curry, however, has been phenomenal all series long; he's averaging 26 points thus far through four games of the series, and he's doing so on 51.4 percent shooting from the field and 41 percent from deep.