Without Jimmy Butler, the Warriors’ only chance at beating the Rockets was for Steph Curry to explode.
Dynamite.
Against an elite Houston defense completely keyed in on Curry, the two-time MVP scratched and clawed for all 36 of his points. He played 41 minutes and shot 12-for-23, including 7-for-8 at the foul line.
“We had one task,” Curry said postgame. “Hopefully (Butler’s) back next game. But if he’s not, we can still play at a high level. We can win a tough, physical playoff game. Like we all know, we’re trying to win 14 more of these and we need Jimmy to do that.”
In a 104-93 victory, the Warriors superstar added nine assists and seven rebounds. Buddy Hield chipped in 17 off the bench, Gary Payton II scored 12 in the fourth quarter and Draymond Green came up with three defensive stops in crunch time.
In the history of seven-game NBA playoff series, the winner of Game 3 after the first two games were split has advanced 74.2% of the time.
“This is what the playoffs are about, they’re about injuries and they’re about guys stepping up,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “We had both today. With Jimmy being out, you have to be able to withstand that and win a game here and there — we’ve done that for many years.”
An hour before tipoff, Butler was officially ruled out. There was some optimism within the team that he’d be able to play through the pelvic contusion and glute bruise he suffered early in Game 2, but the Warriors knew leading up to Saturday’s game that Butler’s availability was realistically in doubt.
Unlike in Game 2, when Butler’s injury caused the Warriors to scramble, Steve Kerr and the coaching staff had the chance to strategize for the possibility of him being sidelined.
Two years ago, in the Warriors’ first-round series against the Kings, they returned home to Chase Center after losing the first two games. Worse, Draymond Green was suspended for Game 3 for stomping on Domantas Sabonis’ chest.
But the Warriors game-planned their way to a Game 3 heist. Curry scored 36 points on 12-for-25 shooting, rescuing Golden State from what would have been a 3-0 deficit.
That was the blueprint then, as it is now with Butler, not Green, unavailable.
Golden State’s mission? Get the ball to 30. Set him a screen in the backcourt, then another one. Find him again when he passes the ball away early in a possession. Let him work with the ball in his hands more, in the pick-and-roll and in isolation.
Empty the clip.
The Warriors inserted Jonathan Kuminga and Quinten Post into the starting rotation to spark some offense. That unit had a huge 9-0 burst to open the second half, but no scheme or strategy is as relevant as Curry can be when his team needs him to twist his aggression dial to 10.
Curry found pockets to attack in the second quarter, erupting for 13 points in the frame. He split double teams, and snaked his way to the rim as his outside shot didn’t fall. With officials more attuned to Houston’s off-ball grabbing and pick-and-roll bumps, he got to the line for four foul shots.
“There was just a moment in the second quarter where I had to get a little more assertive and not let the double teams and the traps take me out of possessions,” Curry said.
On one play, Curry stood up Fred VanVleet, blocked his jumper and whipped the ball ahead to a streaking Hield for a layup. The Warriors closed the first half on a 9-0 run, pulling within three after trailing by as much as 13 early.
Curry was 5-for-11 at halftime. He reached 22 points on an in-and-out dribble at halfcourt before sinking a floater through a foul by Alperen Sengun. Then he curled around a screen for his third 3-pointer of the night to give him 25 points. The next possession, he shook Jabari Smith Jr. out of his sneakers with a behind-the-back dribble and drained a shot to reach 27 points.
“We all follow him,” Green said. “Just with that type of tenacity — you’re not going to be the guy that lets him down when he’s playing like that. I don’t think anybody wants to be that guy when he’s coming out and giving that type of effort.”
By creating on the ball, Curry lifted lineups bereft of spacing and players less capable of generating offense off the bounce.
It was the type of performance that makes you wonder why Curry doesn’t shoot until his shoulders are sore every game.
The Warriors struggled whenever Curry sat, so Kerr throttled up his minutes. Curry started the fourth quarter at 30 minutes. Golden State stole a minute of rest for Curry as the teams swapped leads, but he ended the night with 41 minutes as the Warriors needed him on the floor as much as possible.
Houston sent doubles at Curry to get the ball out of his hands, and he almost always made the right reads. Even as he was gunning, he facilitated. The Warriors countered Houston’s scheme by playing a super-small lineup of Curry, Hield, Payton, Green and Brandin Podziemski. Payton slipped to the rim for a pair of buckets assisted by Curry and also converted a corner 3-pointer off a Curry kickout.
The Chase Center crowd waved to Rockets forward Dillon Brooks as he fouled out with 3:47 left. Then it erupted when Payton cut his way to an uncontested dunk to give the Warriors a six-point lead that Golden State would soon expand.
At the end of the game, foul shots by Curry closed out a 35-22 fourth quarter for the Warriors. After the final horn, Green and Jalen Green exchanged words at halfcourt.
The young Rockets star and his teammates were certainly aware of the opportunity Curry just yanked from them.
Without Butler, with Hield and Payton as Curry’s two running mates, the Warriors took control of the series.
“If there’s a situation where somebody is not available, next-man-up mentality, it’s got to be a belief and a confidence,” Curry said. “Two months ago, I don’t know if we had that.”