The Golden State Warriors defeated the Houston Rockets 104-93 in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series, and now have a 2-1 series lead. Despite missing star forward Jimmy Butler III, the Warriors still had Steph Curry. And even at 37, Curry showed why he remains one of the best players in the NBA.

The Rockets took an early lead, largely thanks to a hot start from point guard Fred VanVleet. VanVleet struggled mightily in the first two games of the series, but scored the Rockets first 9 points, and had 13 in the first quarter alone. Otherwise, Game 3 largely looked like the defense-first rock fight that most of the series has been. At the end of the first quarter the Rockets were ahead 22-18.

Draymond Green led an impressive defensive effort from the Dubs, but he was abysmal on the other end of the floor. Green forced a pair of early corner threes and squandered several opportunities inside (through either missed layups or turnovers).

Green was able to convert an and-one in the second quarter, drawing Dillon Brooks’ fourth foul of the game in the process. When Brooks went to the bench, the Dubs offense was finally able to hit a bit of a rhythm. Buddy Hield knocked down a couple threes and helped the Warriors finish the first half on a 9-0 run. The Rockets lead was down to 49-46 at the half.

At the start of the second half, Jonathan Kuminga finally came alive, and finished a pair of drives inside. A Brandin Podziemski slip screen confused the Rockets defense enough to give Curry a wide open three. The Rockets offense continued struggling to score points outside of transition. With the Dubs avoiding turnovers, Quinten Post, who showcased a much improved rebounding and defensive effort (despite continued issues finishing inside), found Green for an alley-oop to give the Dubs a 57-56 lead.

Kuminga forced a couple drives out of a Rockets timeout and one possession featured two missed threes from Green and another missed triple from Hield. At that moment, it seemed like Curry flipped a switch. After allowing the ball to flow away from the Rockets defensive pressure for much of the game, he began to force the issue.

Steph pulled up from the logo early in the shot clock, and missed. But that offensive aggressiveness was the only Warriors attack that could consistently pay dividends. After scoring just 2 points in the first quarter, he had 27 by the end of the third quarter.

Curry went to the bench with the Warriors trailing 69-66 with just under two minutes left in the third. Head coach Steve Kerr was betting that he could give his star a breather without the Rockets getting things out of hand. Hield stepped up and knocked down a three, and Curry returned after 90 seconds on the bench with the Rockets only ahead 71-69.

Curry started the fourth quarter and helped Golden State retake a slim 80-79 lead. With 7:56 left, Kerr opted to give him one more rest. The Warriors defense was able to contain the Rockets enough to maintain the lead. When he returned a minute later, the Warriors led 82-81.

With the Rockets defense back to being focused on Curry, Steph took advantage of their aggressiveness by setting up Gary Payton II on pick-and-rolls with a four-on-three advantage. Payton attacked the basket aggressively and converted back-to-back layups. With 4:51 left in regulation, the Dubs led 87-84.

The Rockets have been abysmal from the free-throw line all series long, and it was a huge reason the Warriors were able to remain competitive. Alperen Şengün was 1-for-6 from the line and Houston started 12-for-22 as a team.

Kerr continued trusting Payton to close the game over Kuminga. Payton has looked overmatched at times in this series against the long and athletic Rockets wings, but he validated his coach’s trust on Saturday night. When Curry found Payton with an acrobatic pass in the corner, he knocked down the three.

Brooks answered by drawing a foul and making both free throws to end a Rockets scoring drought. A Curry miss could have given Houston a chance to get out in transition. Instead, Payton grabbed the offensive rebound and Brooks picked up his sixth foul of the game. The Warriors drew up a play that got Payton a wide open dunk on the subsequent in-bounds play. The Rockets were down a starter, and the Warriors led 92-86.

At that point, the Warriors guards guided them to victory. Curry made a three over Jalen Green at the top of the key. Then, Podziemski drew a foul (he made both free throws) and knocked down a mid-range jumper to answer a VanVleet three. The Rockets would never cut the deficit to less than six the rest of the way.

The Warriors got enough solid performances from the supporting cast. Hield had 17 huge points on 6-for-13 from the field (5-for-11 from three). Payton had a highly-efficient (7-for-9) 16 points. Green had a stellar defensive outing.

But Curry was the only reason Golden State had a chance. Even with Curry’s gravity, his teammates made just 40.3% of their attempts from the field (28.1% from three) against Houston’s defense. The face of the franchise played 41 minutes and recorded 36 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal, and just 2 turnovers. He unsurprisingly had a game-best +18 plus/minus.

After Jalen Green’s explosive offensive night carried the Rockets to a Game 2 victory, Houston was desperate for a scorer on Saturday. He was largely invisible, finishing just 4-for-11 from the field with 9 points. Despite his hot start, VanVleet led the Rockets with just 17 points (5-for-14 shooting). Şengün had 15 points and 11 rebounds, but the missed free throws and several missed shots inside left plenty of points on the board.

The Rockets had a prime opportunity to retake home-court advantage in the series with Butler sidelined. Instead, the Warriors showed how valuable it is to have the best player in a series. Now Golden State will hope to get Butler back for Game 4 as they look to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

After receiving multiple days off prior to the first three games of the series, both teams will have to deal with a far quicker turn around going forward. Game 4 at the Chase Center is scheduled to tip-off on Monday at 7:00 pm Pacific.