Jimmy Butler III returned from a one-game absence to score 14 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to help the Golden State Warriors record a 109-106 victory over the Houston Rockets in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series on Monday in San Francisco.
Brandin Podziemski made six 3-pointers and scored 26 points as the Warriors took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference matchup.
Stephen Curry scored 17 points, Buddy Hield added 15 and Quinten Post had 13 off the bench for seventh-seeded Golden State.
“We have the most confident guys,” Butler said on TNT, adding that he experienced soreness at times during the game. “Anybody can put the ball in the basket, but more than anything, we’re locked in on the defensive side of the ball, we’re playing hard, and when we limit our turnovers, we’re hard to beat.”
Alperen Sengun amassed 31 points and 10 rebounds and Fred VanVleet knocked down eight 3-pointers while scoring 25 points for the second-seeded Rockets. Amen Thompson put up 17 points for Houston.
The Rockets had a chance to tie in the final second, but VanVleet was off-target on a long 3-point attempt.
Game 5 is Wednesday night in Houston.
Butler missed Game 3 due to a pelvic injury and had just four points in the first half of Game 4 before excelling in the second half. He ended the night 12-for-12 on free-throw attempts, and he scored all of Golden State’s last five points at the line.
“Jimmy getting to the line 12 times really carried us, especially in the fourth quarter,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It was just an incredible performance by our guys against a great team that gave us everything we can handle tonight. It’s a big-time win.”
Regarding Butler’s return to action, Kerr said, “We had to have him. If this was the regular season, he would probably miss another week or two. But it’s in the playoffs and he’s Jimmy Butler. This is what he does. … Jimmy was just amazing. He’s ‘Playoff Jimmy’ for a reason.”
Butler was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 58.7 seconds left and made all three free throws to give Golden State a 107-104 lead.
Sengun’s driving hoop brought the Rockets within one with 40.8 seconds to play.
Houston later had the chance to take the lead, but Sengun’s 11-footer was off the mark with 6.4 seconds left.
“That’s my shot,” Sengun said. “I’ve been making those through the years now. It’s hard to miss the (go-ahead) shot. But there’s a lot to learn. I’m going to make those someday and get better and better.”
Butler made two free throws with four seconds left before VanVleet’s shot at the buzzer didn’t draw iron.
Golden State shot 41.9 percent from the field, including 17 of 46 (37 percent) from 3-point range.
The Rockets made 49.4 percent of their shots and were 11 of 23 (47.8 percent) from behind the line. Dillon Brooks had 11 points and Steven Adams blocked four shots for Houston.
The Warriors trailed by seven points at halftime before scoring 18 of the first 19 points of the third period.
“Obviously the start of the third quarter, the 18-1 run, we gave everything back that we did before halftime,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “To be up seven and to be down 10 that quickly … Nobody tries to miss shots, but the rebounding. They beat us in second-chance points again.”
The Rockets scored the next seven points and eventually knotted the score at 74 on Sengun’s basket with 2:35 remaining in the period.
Golden State took an 82-80 edge into the final stanza and Podziemski started the quarter with a trey. However, Houston scored 14 of the next 19 points and took a 94-90 lead on Thompson’s basket with 7:33 left.
Butler later scored four points during a 7-0 bust and Golden State led by three with 2:12 to play.
VanVleet then canned another trey to tie it at 104 with 1:20 remaining.
VanVleet scored 12 points in the first half and Houston held a 57-50 lead at the break. Podziemski paced Golden State with 13 before intermission.
–Field Level Media
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