SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Jimmy Butler converted three free throws with 58.7 seconds left, grabbed the game-clinching rebound with 4 seconds to go and then made two more free throws on the way to 27 points in his return from a pelvic injury, sending the Golden State Warriors past the Houston Rockets 109-106 on Monday night in a heated Game 4 to take a 3-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.
Fred VanVleet missed a 3-pointer under pressure at the buzzer.
The teams return to Houston for Game 5 in the best-of-seven series on Wednesday night as seventh-seeded Golden State tries to close out the No. 2 seed Rockets on their home floor.
Brandin Podziemski scored 26 points, Stephen Curry finished with 17 in the frantic finish and Buddy Hield hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:32 left and scored 15 after joining the starting lineup.
Alperen Sengun scored with 40 seconds left for Houston to make it a one-point game. He had 31 points and 10 rebounds, while VanVleet hit a tying 3-pointer with 1:20 to play and scored 25 points.
Butler was back after sitting out Game 3 with a pelvic contusion and deep gluteal muscle bruise suffered on a hard fall when he was fouled by Amen Thompson early in Game 2.
The second quarter Monday featured four technical fouls and a flagrant 1 in two separate tussles, including shoving during one sequence involving Curry, Draymond Green and Dillon Brooks.
With the game tied at 36, Curry dribbled down the sideline when Green put a hard screen on Houston’s Amen Thompson. Brooks fouled Curry and he appeared to become angry about the push before going at Curry and Green.
Curry received a technical for “taunting” Brooks, who also received a technical along with Green. Warriors rookie Quinten Post and Houston’s Jabari Smith Jr. flailed their arms at each other but avoided technicals upon replay review by the officials.
Then with 2:44 left in the quarter, tempers flared again. Green received a Flagrant 1 foul for pushing Tari Eason’s face to the ground and Eason also received a technical. Green was dribbling when Eason went for a steal and the ball got loose and both players hit the floor trying to corral it. Green’s left leg was on the Rockets forward’s neck.
Butler shot 7 for 12 in 40 minutes after he watched Curry overcome a slow start to finish with 36 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in Golden State’s 104-93 victory Saturday night without him.
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| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| A. Sengun | 31 | 10 | 5 | 2 |
| F. VanVleet | 25 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| A. Thompson | 17 | 9 | 2 | 3 |
| D. Brooks | 11 | 6 | 0 | 4 |
| J. Green | 8 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| J. Smith | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| S. Adams | 5 | 7 | 0 | 4 |
| T. Eason | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| J. Green | – | – | – | – |
| J. McVeigh | – | – | – | – |
| A. Holiday | – | – | – | – |
| C. Whitmore | – | – | – | – |
| R. Sheppard | – | – | – | – |
| N. Williams | – | – | – | – |
| D. Roddy | – | – | – | – |
| N. Dante | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 106 | 41 | 18 | 21 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| J. Butler | 27 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
| B. Podziemski | 26 | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| S. Curry | 17 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| B. Hield | 15 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| D. Green | 6 | 8 | 2 | 5 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| Q. Post | 13 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| M. Moody | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| G. Payton II | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| K. Looney | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| G. Santos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Jackson-Davis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| B. Key | – | – | – | – |
| J. Rowe | – | – | – | – |
| J. Kuminga | – | – | – | – |
| T. Armstrong | – | – | – | – |
| K. Knox II | – | – | – | – |
| P. Spencer | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 109 | 34 | 27 | 23 |