The Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets 127-120 on Sunday, clawing back after blowing an early 18-point lead. Here are three things to know from Golden State's first road win of 2022-23.

3 Warriors takeaways from tough win over Rockets

Klay Thompson's floodgates finally opened

Here's what Thompson posted on Instagram following the Warriors' road loss to the Sacramento Kings on November 13th.

A week later, after altering his offensive approach in Golden State's win over the New York Knicks on Friday, Thompson's unwavering confidence came to rousing fruition. He exploded for 20 first-quarter points against Houston, shooting 7-of-9 and draining four triples.

Just as encouraging? Thompson's eruption came within the flow of the game.

All of his threes weren't just open, but came in perfect rhythm off the catch with his feet set. He made extra passes when the Rockets were in rotation, one finding Andrew Wiggins for an uncontested dunk. He also had three finishes at the rim, none of which were uncontested—heartening for a player who's struggled around the basket all season.

The only time Thompson “forced” anything early came after his first six shots had already tickled the twine, yielding a pair of heat checks on successive possessions.

Thompson wasn't quite so hot for the game's remainder, but still played with more measured aggressiveness offensively. His quick-hitting wing three with two seconds left in the third quarter broke a tie, paving the way for Golden State to take control in crunch-time.

How'd that happen? Vintage Klay re-appeared when the Warriors needed him most.

Those first two shots are some of the toughest Thompson has hit all season. Fingers crossed his breakout night—41 points on 10-of-13 shooting—proves a harbinger of consistent efficiency to come.

The second quarter was a disaster

The Warriors got off to an 11-0 start against Houston, letting up a bit over the first quarter's remainder. Still, by the time it was over they'd scored a season-high 40 points, leading the Rockets by double-digits, seemingly en route to an easy victory.

Then the second quarter started, changing the game for good.

The opening five of Jordan Poole, Donte DiVincenzo, Jonathan Kuminga, Anthony Lamb and Kevon Looney was sorely out-classed on both ends. Golden State's first six possessions of the second quarter went as follows: missed three, missed three, turnover, turnover, missed runner, turnover.

They played with no togetherness or continuity offensively, helping Houston ignite its transition attack. The Warriors, shocker, also couldn't stop fouling, sending the Rockets to the line again and again for free points.

Houston scored the first 13 points of the period as a result, capitalizing off that sloppy offense with high-flying finishes and long-range splashes.

By the time Steve Kerr called timeout barely more than two minutes into the second stanza, his team's lead was already gone—not to mention all the momentum it built during a dominant start.

Golden State's regulars couldn't quite right the ship before halftime, trading buckets with Houston in a stretch of the game that looked a lot like pickup basketball, no doubt drawing Kerr's ire even as the Warriors cut into the Rockets' lead. They ended up being outscored by 37-20 in the second quarter, trudging into halftime down by five.

The extent of Golden State's struggles was jarring, but their rough performance alone shouldn't have been surprising. The defending champs entered Sunday's action with a -7.3 net rating in the second quarter, 25th in the league, per NBA.com/stats.

The Warriors have stuck with the same rotation the past few games, searching for bench lineups solid enough to avoid wasting standout play from the starters. It might be time for Kerr to go back to the rotational drawing board, as he did after intermission by benching Lamb and Kuminga.

At least until Poole gets out of his funk, Golden State's initial second-quarter unit just isn't good enough on either end.

Porous road defense persists

Houston is arguably the worst team in basketball. Anything less than their first road win would've been an abject disappointment for the Warriors, their worst loss among an early-season slate full of dispiriting defeats.

But results trump process for a team like Golden State, and another awful defensive effort away from Chase Center nearly doomed the reigning champs.

The Warriors came into this game with a defensive rating of 120.8 on the road, second-to-last in the league, per NBA.com/stats. They played like it on Sunday, with lackadaisical transition defense, way too much fouling and overall engagement that often proved fleeting.

Draymond Green was beaten off the dribble multiple times after reckless close-outs. Thompson anticipated a dribble hand-off that never happened, clearing the way for an easy KJ Martin dunk. Kevon Looney was roasted by Eric Gordon off the dribble. Andrew Wiggins fouled Kevin Porter Jr. on a made three after the Warriors' had seemingly put the game away.

The Rockets own the fourth-worst offense in basketball, but you hardly would've known it with how easy Golden State made the game for them on Sunday. A defensive performance like that won't be nearly good enough against even middling teams, let alone top-tier contenders.

Trust that Kerr will let his team know about it. For now, just thank the basketball gods the Warriors shot 24-of-47 from deep, saving them from an embarrassing loss.