Warriors beat Houston without MVP Curry

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HOUSTON — If this was indeed Luke Walton’s final game as the Warriors’ interim head coach, his team sent him out in style.

Missing four of their top nine rotation players, including MVP Stephen Curry, the Warriors played a beautiful brand of basketball to beat the Houston Rockets 114-110 on Thursday night at the Toyota Center.

The Warriors had 35 assists on 43 field goals for their 15th game with at least 30 assists this season. Atlanta is second in the league with six such games.

They limited Houston’s high-octane offense to 46.2 percent shooting and connected on 51.2 percent of their field-goal attempts and 47.8 percent of their three-point tries.

“I love it,” Walton said. “…Thirty-five assists as a team, everybody contributing and everybody making plays and reads. That was a championship effort from the guys who could play.”

Head coach Steve Kerr, who has been on a leave of absence while recovering from two offseason back surgeries and a spinal fluid leak, traveled with the team for its back-to-back set in Dallas and Houston — something he hadn’t done since the Warriors played at the Clippers on Nov. 19.

During the 17-day home span before the Texas two-step, Kerr was more involved in practices and game-planning. He even addressed the team after Monday’s sloppy first half against Sacramento.

Warriors guard Klay Thompson, who scored a game-high 38 points, goes for a first-half shot as Patrick Beverley contests his efforts. Warriors guard Klay Thompson, who scored a game-high 38 points, goes for a first-half shot as Patrick Beverley contests his efforts. Photo: David J. Phillip, Associated Press Photo: David J. Phillip, Associated Press Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Warriors beat Houston without MVP Curry 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Most signs are pointing toward Kerr’s return to the bench in the near future, maybe even Saturday for a home game against Denver.

Walton said Kerr wanted to make the trip to see how his body and mind would respond to the travel and because he was going stir crazy when the team was on the road.

“He seems good,” Walton said. “He’s in good spirits. He’s furious at me for getting him another loss (Wednesday) night, but other than that, he seems like he’s handling it pretty well.

“If it is (my last game), it was a lot of fun. I’ll be thrilled to have Steve back coaching us again, but I haven’t spent any time thinking about this possibly being my last game as head coach.”

The Warriors responded to their 114-91 loss in Dallas on Wednesday by getting contributions from nine of their 10 healthy players. Stephen Curry (lower leg) and Festus Ezeli (toe) missed their second consecutive games, and Leandro Barbosa (shoulder), Harrison Barnes (ankle) and Kevon Looney (hip) were left in the Bay Area to continue their recoveries.

The Warriors (30-2) haven’t lost consecutive regular-season games since April 5 at San Antonio and April 7 at New Orleans, and they seemed determined not to let it happen again.

Klay Thompson had his third 30-point game of the season with 38 points and seven rebounds, Andre Iguodala came off the bench for 20 points, Shaun Livingston had 13 points and seven assists, and Ian Clark added 12 points off the bench. Draymond Green filled the box score for his league-leading fifth triple-double (10 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 16 assists), and Andrew Bogut had nine points and 11 rebounds.

“I expected that out of all of our guys,” Walton said. “We’re the NBA champions. When you lose by 25 or 30 points, you expect a much stronger performance the next night. The thing that makes us happiest as a staff is that they did it together.”

After only three ties in the first half, the game was knotted six times in the third quarter. Neither team had double-digit breathing room until Livingston pulled up for a baseline jumper that put the Warriors up 97-87 with 9:51 left in the fourth quarter

The Warriors answered the Rockets’ late challenge by reeling off a run that pushed their lead to 111-102 on a Thompson jumper with 2:24 on the clock. After Green blocked a three-point attempt by James Harden (30 points), Thompson hit a dagger jumper from 9 feet.

“I can’t wait to have Steve back. When he’s back in the gym, we’re on extra edge, because it’s like, ‘Oh shoot, we don’t want to disappoint Coach,’” Thompson said. “When he does come back — whenever that is — I hope he gets a huge ovation, because he’s the one who puts this all together.…

“Shoot, this won’t be Luke’s last game as a head coach. He’s got a great future in this league. His record exemplifies that, and he’s a lot of fun to play for. He keeps it light around here, but we also respect his knowledge. There’s a reason we’re 30-2.”

Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: rsimmons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Rusty_SFChron