As Stephen Curry emphatically waved his arms to ignite the crowd and coached from the bench when he could do little else, Klay Thompson and the Golden State Warriors' supporting cast proved they can win on the playoff stage without their NBA MVP. Golden State played short-handed down the stretch of the regular season on the way to a record 73 wins. Thompson scored 34 points and dished out five assists and the Warriors held off the Houston Rockets 115-106 on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in their playoff series despite no Curry, sidelined because of an injured right ankle.