Warriors Strength In newbies fell short Wednesday night in Houston 129-112 behind James Harden’s 36 points.

The Houston-Golden State saga has been one of the more intriguing matchups over the last five years-- from Houston’s General Manager Daryl Morey vowing to get pieces to dethrone Golden State to Stephen Curry being denied practice time in the Toyota center during the Western Conference Finals. Wednesday night's Houston Rockets-Golden State Warriors game was  a reminder of all the interesting storylines the NBA lost when Aron Baynes fell on Stephen Curry's left hand.

Despite this, James Harden was still out for blood Wednesday night-- scoring 36 points and 13 assists and sending the depleted Warriors to Minnesota with their sixth loss in eight games.

Alec Burks led Golden State with 28 points. Eric Paschall had 19 points, and Glenn Robinson III added 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Rookies Ky Bowman and Eric Paschall were tasked with defending Harden, which is difficult for even the most seasoned defensive stopper.

Steve Kerr knew this much, simply saying, “Goodluck to you, Ky.”

Eric Paschall was able to elaborate on defending Harden.

"It's just hard because he's so dynamic and he's a great passer," Paschall said. "And during his (isolation plays), you can't really touch him because he's so smart on how he draws the fouls. As a team, we did a good job in the first half, but then he got hot and started hitting 3s."

Both teams struggled with their shooting for spurts of the first half. Through the first quarter the young Dubs kept the game tight, being down one going into the second. There were seven lead changes in the first half until Harden drilled a deep 4-point play that fired up Houston’s bench, the crowd, and rapper Travis Scott who was sitting courtside.

Houston gained the momentum at that point and never looked back. The Rockets led 63-52 at the half, thanks in large part to Harden's 24 first-half points, but also the Dub’s 38.8% shooting from the field.

To open up the second half, the Rockets held the Warriors to just three field goals in the first seven minutes of the third quarter and built a lead as large as 23 points. They entered the fourth quarter leading 98-83. 

Golden State fell to 2-6 for the first time in eight years.

"I didn't like our shot selection as a team tonight," Kerr said. "I didn't think we played for each other. I thought we were driving to try to score instead of driving to try to move the ball to someone on the team who can make the next play."

The season has been predicted as a lost season as the Dubs struggle with an immense injury bug that started in the Finals in June with Klay Thompson tearing his ACL. Now the other Splash Brother Stephen Curry is out with a broken hand, D'Angelo Russell is out with a sprained right ankle  and Draymond Green is sidelined with a torn ligament in his left index finger. 

Russell, who sat on the Golden State bench, could return Friday, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

Kevon Looney will likely miss at least the next two weeks with a nerve condition that has kept him out the last six games, the Warriors said. Looney missed the entire preseason with a strained right hamstring and exited the second half of the season opener with tightness in the hamstring.

The Warriors will travel to Minnesota for their Friday night matchup against Karl Anthony-Towns and the Timberwolves.