Steph Curry carries Butler-less Warriors past Rockets in crucial Game 3 win

SAN FRANCISCO – Facing the league’s most physical and handsy defense without his fearless co-star, the Warriors asked 37-year-old Steph Curry to put the offense on his shoulders in the third game of Golden State’s Western Conference playoff series with the Houston Rockets.

He answered the call, scoring 36 points on 12-of-23 shooting in the Warriors’ 104-93 victory over Houston at Chase Center to give Golden State a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Whether there was one, two or five red jerseys hounding Curry as he ripped around screens, floated in layups and popped for long 3-pointers, Houston had no answer for the greatest shooter in league history.

Curry had help, too.

Buddy Hield came off the bench and scored 17 points, and Draymond Green was a defensive standout against Houston’s massive lineups with seven points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Gary Payton scored nine of his 16 points in two minutes during the fourth quarter to give the Warriors the lead for good.

After being out-rebounded 52-36 in Game 1 of the opening-round series, Golden State continued to show improvement by being out-rebounded by just six on Saturday and outscored the Rockets 44-38 in the paint.

The Warriors played without Jimmy Butler, who was sidelined by a bruised pelvis caused by a hard fall in Game 2.

After Warriors coach Steve Kerr told media on Friday that the team was “relatively optimistic” that Butler would play, the star wing was ruled out on Saturday after going through pregame exercises.

Without Butler in the picture and Jonathan Kuminga starting in his place, Curry scored 15 points in the first half as the Warriors trailed 49-46 at halftime.

Golden State kept pace with Houston in the third, outscoring Houston 23-22 as Curry put in 12 more while Kuminga scored on a couple of hard-nosed isolation drives. The Warriors also shot 12-of-15 from the line, while Houston made just 14-of-24 from the stripe.

Neither team was able to initially create separation in the fourth quarter, even when Curry went to the bench for a short rest with eight minutes remaining in regulation.

Then Payton gave the Warriors a fourth quarter spark with five minutes left by making back-to-back layups as the roll man when Curry passed out of a trap before making a 3-pointer to help Golden State pull away.

Fourth-year wing Moses Moody was one of the few offensive bright spots in a first quarter that saw the Rockets lead 22-18. The Arkansas alum had two tough finishes in traffic to help keep the Warriors afloat.

The Rockets lead ballooned to as much as 34-22 in the second quarter as the Warriors went through a dry spell that saw the home team score just four points in eight minutes.

Curry ended that rough patch with a couple layups, a trademark difficult 3-pointer and even a classic midrange pullup as he scored 13 points in the second period.

He was flanked by Hield, who put in nine points in a flurry that saw the Warriors score 24 points over the last six minutes and get back into a game they would eventually win.

Golden State will play host to Houston in Game 4 on Monday at 7 p.m.