San Francisco – With Jimmy Butler III relegated to a well -filled seat on the bench, the Warriors were forced to review the limits of their offense. Their hopes were based on the improvisation of Stephen Curry and a prayer.
Curry has accomplished his mission, Gary Payton II replied Prayer and warriors have closed A 104-93 victory Above Houston’s Rockets to take a 2-1 advance in their eliminatory series of the Western Conference in the first round.
The Warriors are not exactly in charge, not yet, but winning without Butler is made a statement and to the Rockets – which was personally delivered by Curry: we want to win with Jimmy, but we are able to win without him.
Curry finished with a 36-point summit, including 21 in the second half when the Warriors outstripped the Rockets 58-44. He also added seven assists and three rebounds after the intermission.
All against a defense designed to send waves of punishment.
“This is what superstars do in the playoffs,” said coach Steve Kerr. “You cannot win matches without the great players of the League. When you go deep, the playoffs are becoming more and more stringent. The big players simply give the whole team confidence, and that’s what Steph does.”
The Warriors followed the majority of the first half, delaying 13 points. The defense maintained them within reach, but the offense was suffocated. A 9-0 finish until half-time enabled them to enter the locker room followed by only three (49-46).
“There was a moment in the second quarter when I had to become a little more assertive and not to leave the double teams and the traps withdraw from property,” said Curry. “I only had four shots in the first quarter, and this can generally work to our advantage if we move the ball and the guys get an open look.
“But it did not seem that there were a lot of flows, so I sort of strength in the second trimester and I started. Fortunately, I hit a few strokes.”
Curry’s presence always gives hope to the Warriors, but its third trimester burst, 12 points out of 5 on 6 out of 6 shots, including 2 out of 3 of Deep, gave them – and the crowd with a noisy closed windows at the Chase Center – a strong feeling of belief.
There was, according to his longtime teammate, Draymond Green, an element inspiring with what Curry was doing.
“We all follow him just with this type of tenacity,” said Green. “You’re not going to be the guy to drop him when he plays like that. I think someone wants to be this guy where he comes out, he gave this type of effort. Often, I try to bring this energy, and I did not have it. He found it, then I followed him, and we all followed him.
“I thought it was beautiful, you know, he realized that he was not there, and he took it upon him, you know, bring this type of strength to the game, and we all fell online and followed.”
Houston took his last lead, 84-83, on a 3-ball Dillon Brooks with 5:47 to play. Curry A NOUSE PAYTON for a lay-up 20 seconds later, followed by two other Curry dimes in Payton within the next 58 seconds. This stimulated a 20-9 fence race.
The 36 curry points occurred 12 shots out of 23 on the field, including 5 out of 13 beyond the arc. He added a top of nine assists and seven rebounds to finish more-8 in 41 minutes.
“He’s Steph Curry,” said Kerr. “He is one of the biggest players of all time. He is 37 years old. He is one of the most well -conditioned athletes I have ever seen in my life.
“To play 41 minutes against this kind of defense, having a slow start, then finding your rhythm, that we saw him do countless times over the years, to hit big strokes, to return it only twice against this kind of pressure, he was brilliant.”
With Curry paving the way, the second half was the first time that this series when the Golden State offensive was designed, with testimonies from 16 assists. The Warriors in the first 10 quarters have raised an average of five assists against Houston’s openly physical defense.
And now they will try to assert themselves and take a 3-1 advance in match 4 Monday evening in Chase. Hope is that Butler can play.
“I hope it will be back the next game,” said Curry. “Or if it is not, we can always play at a high level and we can win a difficult physical game. I think we all know it, we try to win 14 others. We need Jimmy to do it.
“But if there is a situation where someone is not available, the mentality of the next man, it must be a belief and a confidence. Two months ago, I do not know if we did.”
The Warriors have it now. They supported him by winning a match which, on paper, seemed worrying.
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