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Golden State Warriors battled past the Houston Rockets 109-106 to move to the brink of a series victory. Jimmy Butler made a dazzling return from injury for Golden State in a pulsating Warriors victory over Houston in San Francisco.
Butler - who was injured in a controversial incident in game two last week and missed game three with a pelvic contusion - scored 27 points to help Golden State take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. An ill-tempered contest frequently threatened to boil over, with several shoving matches erupting at different periods of a hard-fought scrap at the Chase Center.
While Stephen Curry had a quiet night with 17 points, Brandin Podziemski rained in six-of-11 three-pointers to finish with 26 points. Houston had led by seven early in the second half, but saw that lead whittled away after an inspired 18-1 run by Golden State that put the home side in control.
While Houston fought back to open up a four-point lead late in the fourth, Golden State rallied to claw back the initiative with five late Butler free throws to seal victory. "Jimmy was just amazing," Golden State coach Steve Kerr said, revealing that the 35-year-old six-time NBA All-Star had fought through the pain from his pelvis injury throughout the game. "If it were the regular season, he'd probably miss another week or two but it's the playoffs and he's Jimmy Butler," Kerr added.
Butler, whose arrival from Miami in February breathed new life into Golden State's season, said his move had reignited his love for basketball. "I would die for these guys," Butler told TNT. "I got my joy back. I always say that we got the most confident guys. Anybody can put the ball in the basket, but more than anything we're locking in defensively and when we limit our turnovers we're hard to beat."
