Jimmy Butler III fought through injuries to lead the Golden State Warriors to a crucial Game 4 victory over the Houston Rockets.
Jimmy Butler III returned from the absence of one game of injuries to score 14 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter. The Golden State Warriors recorded a 109-106 victory over the Houston Rocket in Game 4 of the first round of the playoff series in San Francisco.
Brandin Podziemski scored six 3-pointers and 26 points.
Stephen Curry scored 17 points, Buddy Heald added 15 points, and Quinten Post scored 13 from the bench in the seventh Golden State.
Alperen Sengun led all the scorers with 31 points and 10 rebounds, while Fred Vanvleet knocked down eight three-pointers and scored 25 points on the second-seeded rocket. Amen Thompson scored 17 points for Houston.
The Rockets had a chance to tie together in the final seconds, but Vanvleet was out of target with a long three-point attempt.
Game 5 will be held in Houston on Wednesday night.
Butler missed Game 3 due to a pelvic injury and only had four points in the first half of Game 4 before excelling in the second half. He finished a 12-12 night with a free throw attempt and scored the final five points in Golden State at the line.
Butler was fouled on a three-point attempt with 58.7 seconds left, making all three free throws to give Golden State a 107-104 lead.
Sengun’s driving hoop took the rocket to within one in 40.8 seconds.
Houston had the opportunity to lead later, but Senn’s 11 footer was off the mark with 6.4 seconds left. Butler made two free throws with four seconds remaining before Van Vriet aired the shot with the buzzer.
Golden State scored 41.9% from the field. This includes 17/46 (37%) from the 3-point range.
The Rockets made 49.4 percent of their shots, 11/23 (48.7 percent) from behind the line. Dillon Brooks scored 11 points and Stephen Adams blocked four shots for Houston.
The Warriors scored seven points at halftime before starting the third quarter with an 18-1 run.
The Rockets scored the next seven points and ultimately tied the score at 74 in Sengung’s basket with 2 minutes and 35 seconds left.
Golden State took an 82-80 edge into the final stanza, with Posiemski starting the quarter with three pointers. However, Houston scored 14 of his next 19 points, taking a 94-90 lead in Thompson’s basket with 7:33 left.
Butler then scored four points on a 7-0 burst, with Golden State leading by 3 and playing at 2:12.
Vanvleet then canned another 3-pointer and tied it at 104 with 1:20 left.
Vanvleet scored 12 points in the first half, with Houston taking a 57-50 lead on the break. Podziemski paced Golden State at 13 before the break.
The Cavaliers clean the heat with a blow-off of record settings
In a previous playoff match on Monday, Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers scored a 4-0 first-round series sweep on the 138-83 route for the hosts Miami Heat, the fourth-largest victory margin in the NBA playoff game.
De’andre Hunter (19 points), Ty Jerome (18) and Evan Mobley (17) all played their part, with Jarrett Allen finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds along with steel in the first half of the sixth inning.
Nicola Giovic finished with 24 points in Miami’s career playoffs after appearing in the first quarter, while Bam Adebayo posted 13 points and 12 boards.
An emphasised Game 4 victory allowed the first Seed Cavaliers to win the Bertz in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, humiliating the eighth seed heat season.
The 55-point margin was Miami’s biggest postseason loss, surpassing the previous record of 37 points set in Game 3 two days ago.
“We were humbled, but they (the Cavaliers) had something to do with what we looked like,” Miami coach Eric Sporstra said. “None of us would have thought this series came out of our two play-ins like this. They took it to another level.
Cleveland will play either the Indiana Pacers or the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Pacer is currently leading the 3-1 Best of Seven Series.
