Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle
Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle
Stephen Lam/S.F. Chronicle
Stephen Lam/S.F. Chronicle
Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle
With apologies to Jimmy Butler, the “Batman” nickname didn’t quite apply to Stephen Curry on Saturday night.
In a crucial Game 3 between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets, Curry was more like Superman. A solo superstar. And the Rockets not only tugged on Superman’s cape, they scratched Superman’s arms, they pulled Superman’s shorts, they knocked Superman on his butt, and they did everything possible to be Superman’s kryptonite.
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In one of his toughest and most unique playoff appearances, Curry carried the Warriors past the Rockets, 104-93, and to a 2-1 lead in the first-round series. Curry scored 36 points and almost had a triple double with nine rebounds and seven assists. He made five 3-pointers and only turned the ball over twice against the Rockets’ swarming defense that Steve Kerr described as “a constant blitzing of Steph.”
“You know it’s not going to be a beautiful brand of basketball, because of the matchup, the defensive intensity, the physicality,” Curry said.
Gritty. Often ugly. But winning. The grind-it-out victory just may have sucked the soul out of the Rockets, who had successfully knocked Butler out of a key playoff game, had a 13-point lead in the second quarter, yet found themselves on the losing end to Curry “and the other guys.” The Rockets’ entire game plan was to stop Curry and they couldn’t do it.
“To play 41 minutes against that kind of defense, to have a slow start and then find his rhythm, which we have seen him do countless times over the years, to hit big shots, to only turn it over twice against that kind of pressure, he was brilliant,” Kerr said of Curry.
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The Warriors had a collective slow start. This was decidedly not beautiful basketball. During an almost nine-minute stretch of the first half, the Warriors scored only four points. Curry took just four shots in the first quarter and was getting no help from his supporting cast.
“There was a moment in the second quarter, where I had to get a little bit more assertive,” he said. “It didn’t seem like there was a lot of flow, so I did kind of force the issue in the second quarter.”
Good thing he did. The Warriors only had 24 points and were down 13 with 5:16 minutes to play in the first half. At times they looked like the hapless pre-Butler, January Warriors, which is definitely not the way to strike fear into an opponent in a playoff game.
But then Curry scored 13 points in a 24-12 Warriors run to end the second quarter, cutting the deficit to just three points at halftime.
“I thought the key to the game was the way we closed the second quarter to get some momentum,” Kerr said. “We felt pretty good at halftime as a result.”
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With spacing adjustments at halftime, and led by Curry’s tough brilliance, role players such as Buddy Hield, Gary Payton II and Quinten Post all started to contribute and the Warriors pulled away in the final minutes.
“We all follow him, with that type of tenacity,” Draymond Green said. “You’re not going to be the guy that lets him down when he’s running like that. I try to bring that energy and I didn’t have it. I followed him; we all followed him.
“He took it upon himself to bring that type of force to the game. And we all fell in line.”
It has to be disheartening to the Rockets that with everything they throw at Curry, he can still put on his Superman cape and beat them. He did it to their Houston forefathers 11 seasons ago and he’s doing it to this version of the Rockets team. At 37, the physical toll of this bruising series has been a lot.
“It’s been up there, compared to any other series we’ve been in,” Curry said. “I love it, as long as it’s consistent on both sides … It’s the playoffs. You try to not let it distract you and frustrate you if a call doesn’t go your way or not.”
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Seeing their leader go flying to the ground after he lets go of a shot, and do a little crab-like dance on his back when it goes through and he gets the “and-one,” rallies the other guys.
“I think for us psychologically it just reconfirms to ourselves that we’re capable of making any adjustment,” Green said of winning without Butler.
As with all good leaders, Curry gave his teammates confidence. And he believes that will translate to the next game, whether or not Butler — out with a pelvic contusion suffered in Game 2 — plays (though there seemed to be a general sense that he will be ready for Monday’s Game 4).
“Hopefully he’s back next game; if he’s not we can still play at a high level and we can win a tough, physical playoff game,” Curry said. “We’re trying to win 14 more of these. We need Jimmy to do that.
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“But if there’s a situation where somebody is not available, it’s that next-man-up mentality. There’s got to be a belief and a confidence. Two months ago, I don’t know if we had that.”
The Warriors have confidence. They have belief. They may not have had Jimmy Butler but they have their super man.
