Exhale Dub Nation.

The Golden State Warriors avoided a catastrophic collapse Saturday night, as they narrowly escaped a gritty Houston Rockets team with an overtime win to improve to 5-1.

After leading by as many as 31 points in the first half and going into halftime with a 28-point lead, Golden State looked as good as it had all season. The Warriors shot 8-12 from three in the opening frame, with eight Warriors scoring in the first quarter alone, good enough to open up an 18-point advantage.

The offensive onslaught continued in the second quarter with shooting guard Buddy Hield coming off the bench, starting 4-4 from beyond the arc. Hield finished with 27 points and has been the leading scorer in each of the Warriors' five wins this season.

Golden State looked poised to continue the trend of all their wins coming by a margin of 15 or more points, which ended up being far from the case.

With the help of the home fans desperate to cheer for anything, the Rockets reinserted themselves back into the contest midway through the third, as they got the deficit below 20, and ultimately trailed by 16 going into the fourth quarter with an amped-up Toyota Center crowd.

Two key factors that propelled Houston’s comeback was their ability to convert on second-chance opportunities, outscoring the Warriors 24-6 in that category. Third-year forward Tari Eason scored a career-high 27 points leading the charge offensively by going 9-13 from the field in the second half.

The fourth quarter was a roller coaster of emotions for both sides, as Houston continued their empathic comeback to tie and eventually take a one-point lead. The lead lasted only a few seconds as Hield immediately responded with a triple to reclaim the lead.

In the final minutes of regulation, second-year guard Brandin Podziemski came up huge for a Warriors offense that was faltering. He went 3-3 from the field, with all his buckets coming in the paint to steady the attack. Podziemski finished with 12 points, six assists and five rebounds.

With the Golden State leading 118-114 with thirty-four seconds remaining, Draymond Green was fouled and sent to the free-throw line. Green missed both, as the Warriors struggled significantly all night going 32-50 from the line.

Now with the Dubs up 119-117 and sixteen seconds left, Green’s late-game execution again proved costly as he turned it over while inbounding the ball on an errorant pass, which led him to foul Eason. Giving Green six fouls to end his night. Eason nailed both free throws to tie the game.

The Warriors had an opportunity to win the game in regulation, with eight seconds left after the free throws, but with no timeouts, Hield failed to run a play after slipping. Sending us to overtime.

Since December 19, 2017, the Warriors had gone 4-19 in overtime, with 11 straight losses on the road. The momentum had shifted Houston’s way after the Warriors failed to put the Rockets way a second time.

With 2:55 left in overtime, Podziemski fouled out. With the Warriors already down Steph Curry, De’Anthony Melton, and now Green and Podziemski, Golden State faced the challenge of playing the rest of the game without a true ball handler.

During overtime, Jonathan Kuminga came up big for the Warriors, outscoring the Rockets by himself 6-2. Going 3-3 from the field to give Golden State the advantage late, which they finally were able to hold onto and win the game 127-121.

Kuminga recorded 23 points, six rebounds and led the team with a +18 plus-minus.

“Last year, we would’ve smoked that game, 1000%. It’s good to see that we can pull a game out, regardless of if it had gone south or not,” Green said.

Warriors play-by-play announcer Bob Fitzgerald put it best after the game.

“They won this game three times.”

The Dubs avoid an awful start to a challenging five-game road trip, which would have soured quickly. Golden State returns to action on Monday night in Washington DC to take on the 2-3 Wizards.

(Photo credit: Tim Warner/Getty Images)