Point guard Stephen Curry scored a game-high 36 points, spinning past the Houston Rockets 104-93, who visited to take a 2-1 lead in the National Basketball Association (NBA) first-round playoff series in San Francisco despite losing the injured Jimmy Butler III.
Warriors’ King Gary Payton II saved nine of his career-high 16 points in the postseason with a late run, with Buddy Heald bombing five three-pointers for most of his 17 points. Rookie Quinten’s post got off to the start of his first postseason, taking the seventh seeded Warriors’ game high 12 rebounds.
“The game will be pretty in this series,” Curry said on Saturday night after the game on ABC. “You need to grind it a bit. We scored 22 points midway through (second quarter). How do you score?
The Warriors learned that Butler couldn’t go after a pre-game warm-up after a Game 2 loss in Houston due to gluteous contempt.
“Everyone stepped up and played for Jimmy,” Curry said. “Hopefully he’s back soon.”
After the Rockets held the Warriors to 18 points in the first quarter, Golden State scored the final nine points of the second quarter, earning them within 49-46 on the break, setting a solidly contested second half.
A 3-pointer by Dillon Brooks at 5:47 in regulation gave Rocket a final lead 84-83 before Payton, who went scoreless in the Warriors Game 2 loss.
With his Hall of Fame father watching from the stands, Payton gave Golden State a lead with a layup, adding another layup, a 3-pointer and a dunk at 5:27, opening a 92-86 lead at 3:42.
“Everyone has confidence, and that’s how beautiful our team is,” Curry said. “Gary was incredible. He took advantage of the top of the double team and went into the paint, finished on the rim and obviously finished on defense. He’s there too. He was part of the championship team in 2022.
Curry puts the fifth 3-pointer of the evening at the bottom, while Payton added a stretch dunk to keep Golden State at bay.
Curry’s 30-point night was his 60th in his postseason career. He also found time with seven rebounds and a game-high nine assists.
“We’re not going to keep him at three points every time we play him. We have to understand that,” said Fred Vanvriet of Houston. “He’s one of the greatest greats of all time. We thought our coverage was a bit late tonight. Some of the switching, some of the physicality, some of the landing from what we put it into the final game.”
Curry and Haild will each excavate five three-pointers to help Golden State outscore the Rockets 42-33 over the Ark.
Draymond Green contributed to the cause with 7 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steel and 3 blocks, while Brandin Podziemski added 10 points.
Vanvleet paced the second seed rocket with 17 points, while Alperen Sengun scored 15 points and 11 rebounds. Brooks scored 13 points, Jabari Smith JR scored 12 points, and Amen Thompson scored 11. Jalen Green chipped with nine points, six rebounds and five team-high assists.
Nugget slams dunk clipper with buzzer
In previous games on Saturday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder, who scored 38 points from Shy Gilgauss Alexander, completed a 4-0 sweep in the NBA Western Conference Playoffs Series and became the first team to reach the second round.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are on the verge of progress, 3-0 stranglehold in the Eastern Conference Series with a 124-87 blowout of the Miami Heat.
The Denver Nuggets levelled the Western Conference Series with an incredible 101-99 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, sealed by Aaron Gordon’s putback dunk at the final buzzer.
Nicola airballed the three pointer as the clock fell, and Gordon jumped up to catch the ball just before a red light came to the backboard, releasing his dunk. Replay reviews have supported domination, and basketball has allowed Denver to even have seven Best Western Conference series in two games.
“I can say it was a lucky play, but Aaron is a big athletic man,” said interim Nuggets coach David Adelman. “He met Ball early. I wasn’t sure if that was good or not. I was preparing for overtime…
“It will be on NBA TV someday. I’m happy that we’ll win the game. I’m happy that it’ll be Nuggets Day, not Clippers Day.”
Jokic scored 36 points, 21 rebounds and eight assists as the fourth-seeded nugget bounced off a 117-83 panmaring in Game 3 on Road 3.
Kawhi Leonard registered 24 points and nine rebounds, while Norman Powell scored 22 with the fifth seed clippers.
“This was really big for us,” Gordon said. “We did what we came here and it regained our home court advantage.”
Game 5 will take place in Denver on Tuesday.
