Podz, Butler lead Warriors to 109-106 Game 4 victory

In Steph Curry’s worst game of the series, the rest of the Warriors stepped up to secure the win.

The Golden State Warriors took a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Houston Rockets on Monday night in a tightly-contested 109-106 victory. While the Rockets were able to hold Steph Curry to just 17 points on 6-for-13 shooting from the field, the Warriors supporting cast stepped up. The closer, of course, had to be Jimmy Butler III.

With Butler back from his injury, head coach Steve Kerr relegated Jonathan Kuminga back to the bench, but Kerr made another tweak to the starting lineup. He swapped Buddy Hield for Quinten Post, giving the more experienced guard the nod after a solid Game 3.

The Warriors starters got off to an excellent start. Draymond Green hit a pair of corner threes, Brandin Podziemski knocked down a triple of his own, and Hield picked Jalen Green’s pocket twice. Just like that, the Warriors were ahead 13-2.

However, Podziemski was the only secondary scorer who was able to continue shooting efficiently. Neither Butler nor Curry were able to find a consistent rhythm in the first half, combining for just 14 points. Without anyone stepping up in their stead, the door was open for the Rockets to recover.

By the end of the first quarter, the Rockets had cut the deficit to 28-24. A few minutes later, Fred VanVleet gave Houston the lead with a three. Then, the “rock fight” returned.

A seemingly endless second quarter included several shoving matches and stoppages that resulted in a slew of technical fouls. Draymond Green was assessed a questionable tech splitting up Dillon Brooks from Curry during one altercation.

That questionable tech should have gotten Green ejected a few minutes later when he grabbed Tari Eason’s jersey in their own confrontation. Instead, the refs gave Green a flagrant foul to asses some punishment without ejecting him from the game. Still, he already had four fouls and was relegated to the bench.

Amidst the chaos, Brooks started jawing with Butler. In his postgame on-court interview, Butler credited his opponent for poking the bear and prompting him to play more aggressively.

In the closing minutes of the half, both teams looked out of sorts, but mayhem gave the Rockets the advantage. The Warriors turned the ball over on four of their final five possessions of the second quarter and trailed 57-50 at the half.

Butler and Curry started the third quarter aggressively and sparked a 13-0 Warriors run to retake the lead. However, Draymond picked up his fifth foul at the end of the run, and was forced to return to the bench. With limited options against Houston’s size, Kerr gave Trayce Jackson-Davis his first rotation minutes in weeks. He held his own, and bought Kerr some time.

Despite Green’s absence, big shots from Podziemski and Butler helped the Warriors carry a slight 82-80 lead into the final quarter. With Curry and Butler unable to get going, Podz led the Warriors offense with 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting from the field (and 5-for-8 from thee) in the first three quarters.

Then, Podziemski started the fourth by drawing a charge on Eason and knocking down a step-back three on the other end. With Green still on the bench, the Warriors needed every stop and score to try and keep up with Rockets center Alperen Şengün, who feasted whenever Draymond was on the bench.

Green checked back in with just under eight minutes left in regulation, and the Warriors trailed 92-90. Any foul, technical, or flagrant would have led to Green’s ejection. But he was able to play the rest of the way.

Golden State continued going back and fourth with the Rockets, staying within a possession before finally retaking the lead with 3:31 left in regulation on a transition three by Hield to give the Dubs a 102-101 lead.

After the Warriors made a pair of huge stops, Butler drove in transition and made a layup inside to push the Dubs lead to three. However, a scorching hot VanVleet capitalized on a defensive miscommunication to tie the game with his eighth made three of the night.

A disjointed Warriors offensive possession left the ball in Butler’s hands from the corner. Butler was forced to take a tough corner three with the shot clock nearing expiration, but drew a foul on Brooks. Butler, clearly in pain after falling on his injured pelvis, went to the line and made all three to put Golden State ahead 107-104 with 58.7 seconds remaining.

Trailing by three, the Rockets were in no rush to tie the game. They put the ball back in Şengün’s hands after he got Gary Payton II switched onto him. Şengün backed Payton down to the basket before making an easy layup with 40.8 seconds still on the clock.

Out of a timeout, the Dubs put the ball in Butler’s hands. He backed down Eason and tried to bank in a mid-range fadeaway, but it rimmed out. Brooks knocked the rebound out of bounds, giving the Warriors another chance to extend the lead. This time it was Curry, who was unable to make a floater. The Rockets would have at least one final shot.

With 13.1 seconds remaining, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka called a timeout and drew up a play for Şengün. The big man went right at Draymond Green and forced a hook from just inside the free-throw line that rimmed out. Butler pulled down a hard-fought rebound in traffic, and was quickly fouled.

Butler made both free throws to make it a three-point game with four seconds remaining. Out of timeouts, VanVleet dribbled up court and had a fairly open on-the-move three, but he missed. The Warriors had pulled out the victory.

After scoring just four points in the first half, Butler finished the game with a team-high 27 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field. Butler made all 12 of his free-throw attempts and added 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 1 block, with 0 turnovers. Podziemski tallied 26 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block of his own.

Şengün led the Rockets with 31 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. VanVleet added 25 points while shooting 8-for-12 from three. Even Amen Thompson recorded 17 points and 9 rebounds, while the Rockets made 47.8% of their three-point attempts. Yet they also wasted plenty of opportunities at the free-throw line, where they finished 19-for-31 (61.3%).

After several days in the Bay Area, both teams will head to Houston, where the Rockets will host Game 5 of the series on Wednesday night. Opening tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 PM Pacific time.