HOUSTON — In May 2014, when he rebuffed an offer from the Knicks to take over the Warriors, Steve Kerr knew he was inheriting an enviable situation. The Southern California native wouldn't need to leave his home state for his first head-coaching job. With a strong core of young players headlined by Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Golden State was poised to build off a 51-win season. [...] even Kerr couldn't have predicted everything that led up to Tuesday night's 113-106 victory over the Rockets at Toyota Center. To extend their winning streak to eight games, the Warriors on Tuesday relied on a familiar blueprint: Make the extra pass, fervently defend the perimeter and trust Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green to handle the rest. After trimming a 22-point, first-half deficit to three midway through the third quarter, Houston's offense stagnated. A team that subsists on its long-range exploits missed 26 three-point tries. The MVP front-runner, James Harden, finished 5-for-20 from the field and 1-for-9 from beyond the arc with six turnovers. Thompson scored 20 of his 25 points before halftime, and Curry overcame foul trouble to pour in a game-high 32 points. To make the...