[Source: Reuters]

Stephen Curry went for a game-high 36 point and the Golden State Warriors, despite missing injured Jimmy Butler III, rallied past the visiting Houston Rockets 104-93 on Saturday night to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series in San Francisco.

The Warriors’ Gary Payton II saved nine of his postseason career-high 16 points for a late run, and Buddy Hield bombed five 3-pointers to account for a majority of his 17 points.

Rookie Quinten Post, making his first postseason start, snatched a game-high 12 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Warriors, who can go up 3-1 in the Western Conference best-of-seven series with another home-court win Monday.

“This series, no game is going to be pretty,” Curry said after the game on the ABC broadcast. “You just kinda have to grind it out. We had 22 points halfway through the second quarter. You wonder: How are we going to score? You just stick with it and make the right plays.”

The Warriors learned after the pregame warmup that Butler would not be able to go because of a glute contusion suffered in the Game 2 loss at Houston.

“Everybody just stepped up and played for Jimmy,” Curry said. “Hopefully, he’s back soon.”

After the Rockets held the Warriors to 18 points in the first quarter, Golden State scored the final nine points of the second quarter to get within 49-46 at the break and set up a tightly contested second half.

A 3-pointer by Dillon Brooks with 5:47 remaining in regulation gave the Rockets their last lead at 84-83 before Payton, who went scoreless in the Warriors’ Game 2 loss, shockingly took over the game.

With his Hall of Fame dad watching from the stands, Payton gave Golden State the lead with a layup with 5:27 to go, then added another layup, a 3-pointer, and a dunk in a personal nine-point run that opened a 92-86 lead with 3:42 to go.

“Everybody has confidence. That’s the beauty of our team,” Curry said. “Gary was unbelievable — taking advantage of the double-teams up top, getting into the paint, finishing at the rim, the big 3 in the corner, obviously the defense … He’s been around, too. He was part of the championship team in 2022. He knows what it takes.”

Curry bottomed his fifth 3-pointer of the night and Payton added a dunk down the stretch to help Golden State hold the visitors at bay.

Curry’s 30-point night was the 60th of his postseason career. He also found time for seven rebounds and a game-high nine assists.

“We’re not going to hold him to three points every time we play him. We have to understand that,” Houston’s Fred VanVleet said. “He’s one of the all-time greats. I thought our coverages were a little slow tonight. Some of the switching, some of the physicality was a touch down from what we had it ramped up to last game.”

Curry and Hield each drilled five 3-pointers, helping Golden State outscore the Rockets 42-33 from beyond the arc.

Draymond Green contributed seven points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and three blocks to the cause, while Brandin Podziemski added 10 points.

VanVleet paced the second-seeded Rockets with 17 points, and Alperen Sengun had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Brooks scored 13 points, Jabari Smith Jr. 12 and Amen Thompson 11. Jalen Green chipped in with nine points, six rebounds and a team-high five assists.

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