Jimmy Butler returns as Warriors, Rockets gear up for Game 4

The Golden State Warriors survived one playoff game without Jimmy Butler. They will not be similarly short-handed for Game 4.

The Warriors will get their star forward back when they play host to the Houston Rockets at San Francisco, ESPN reported.

Butler, who had been listed as questionable, missed Saturday’s 104-93 home win over the Rockets due to a pelvic injury and glute muscle soreness after he was injured in Game 2 on Wednesday.

With more options now at their disposal, the Warriors will attempt to build on their 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

“He’s literally day-to-day,” Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said, before learning Butler would return. “We have (Sunday) off and it will be helpful for him to have another day. It’s a night game so he gets a few extra hours.”

Those hours seemed key, with the report on Butler not revealed until Monday afternoon.

Butler was a force in Game 1 when he contributed 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals in Golden State’s 95-85 road victory.

With Butler watching from the bench Saturday, veteran Stephen Curry guided the Warriors back from a 13-point deficit to post a pivotal victory.

Curry scored 36 points to move into 10th place on the NBA’s all-time postseason scoring list with 4,053 points. He passed former San Antonio Spurs great Tony Parker (4,045).

Curry also had nine assists and seven rebounds in a strong all-around effort.

“This is what superstars do in playoff games,” Kerr said. “You can’t win games without the great players in this league. When you go deep, the playoffs get tougher and tougher, and great players just give the whole team confidence. And that’s what Steph does.”

Golden State also received 42 bench points in the victory. Buddy Hield scored 17 points and Gary Payton II had 16 on 7-of-9 shooting.

“The intensity is fun, it’s great,” Hield said of the postseason stage. “You just have to enjoy the moment and seize the moment. You can’t be shy.”

Houston is kicking itself after letting a golden opportunity get away. The Rockets began the fourth quarter with a 71-69 lead before Golden State turned things up a notch and outscored Houston 35-22 in the decisive period.

“I thought they executed at a higher level than we did,” said Rockets guard Fred VanVleet, who tallied a team-leading 17 points.

VanVleet was among the Houston backcourt players powerless to slow Curry, who had 21 second-half points. Curry is averaging 29 points, seven assists and six rebounds and has made 14 of 31 3-point shots in the series.

“We’re not going to hold him to three points every time we play him, I think we’ve got to understand that,” VanVleet said. “He’s one of the all-time greats. I think our coverages were a little slow, some of the switching and some of the physicality were a touch down from where we had it ramped up the previous game.”

Rockets guard Jalen Green was unable to follow up his stellar 38-point outing in Game 2. He had just nine points on 4-of-11 shooting for his second anemic game of the series. Green had seven points on 3-of-15 shooting in Houston’s Game 1 loss.

“We gave him too much separation in Game 2,” Kerr said. “They did a good job of getting him downhill and creating space. We did a better job (Saturday night) of taking away some of his space.”

Alperen Sengun paces Houston with averages of 19.3 points and 12 rebounds in the series. Green averages 18 points. VanVleet is averaging 11.3 points but shooting just 26.8 percent (11 of 41).

–Field Level Media