Stephen Curry brought his trademark playoff firepower on Saturday night, scoring 36 points along with nine assists and seven rebounds to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 104-93 win over the Houston Rockets. With Jimmy Butler sidelined, Curry stepped up in a big way to help the Warriors take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Butler, recovering from a hard fall in Game 2 that caused a pelvic injury and muscle contusion, watched from the bench dressed in a full-length fur coat, becoming the team’s biggest hype man for the night.
“Playing 41 minutes against intense defense, starting slow and then finding his rhythm—Steph’s performance was incredible,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He hit big shots and only turned it over twice. Just brilliant.”
Buddy Hield came off the bench and added 17 points, including five 3-pointers, while Gary Payton II contributed 16 points, 11 of them in the final quarter. The win marked Golden State’s sixth straight Game 3 victory in the opening round of the playoffs.
Draymond Green praised the team’s collective effort, saying, “To see everyone step up in Jimmy’s absence was huge.”
Game 4 is scheduled for Monday night at Chase Center. The team remains hopeful that Butler will be able to return, though Curry emphasized the group is ready to compete regardless.
“You’ve got one task,” Curry said. “Hopefully Jimmy’s back next game. But even if he’s not, we know we can still win these tough, physical playoff games. We need 14 more wins, and we need Jimmy for that.”
For the Rockets, Fred VanVleet started hot, scoring their first nine points and finishing with 17. Alperen Sengun added a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Golden State adjusted to free up space for Curry, who now has 4,053 career playoff points, moving him past Tony Parker for 10th place on the NBA’s all-time postseason scoring list.
Curry had a slow start, missing all three of his 3-point attempts in the first quarter as the Warriors went 2-of-13 from beyond the arc. But he found his rhythm in the second, pouring in 13 points to cut a 13-point deficit and help the Warriors close the half trailing by just three, 49-46.
“The key was how we closed the second quarter,” Kerr added.
Dillon Brooks fouled out late in the game after a night filled with tension. Just a day earlier, he defended Amen Thompson’s foul on Butler that caused the injury and also took a jab at Green, labeling him “dirty.”
Brooks, Thompson, and the entire Houston squad were met with boos during pregame introductions. Brooks quickly added to the drama by fouling Curry just 11 seconds into the game and picking up his second foul within the first six minutes. By halftime, he had four fouls.
Late in the first quarter, the crowd erupted in laughter as Sengun attempted a one-handed dunk and missed badly.
