HOUSTON – Through the fouls and scraps between bitter basketball enemies, the Warriors had an opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 lead over the Houston Rockets in a contentious series on Monday night at Chase Center.
The Warriors did just that.
And even nursing a sore lower back, Jimmy Butler came up clutch when it counted in Golden State’s 109-106 victory.
Butler scored 14 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter after missing Game 3 with a bruised pelvis. The Warriors needed every point they could get in an incredibly physical matchup that saw Draymond Green get his fifth foul early in the third quarter.
Brandin Podziemski scored 26 points and Curry had 17. Alperen Sengun led the way with 31 for the Rockets.
Buddy Hield gave the Warriors a 102-101 lead on a sidestep 3-pointer with 3:18 left in the fourth quarter, the hosts first advantage in six minutes. Butler pushed it to a three-point advantage with a tough layup over two defenders a minute later.
Fred VanVleet tied it 30 seconds after with a long 3-pointer, one of eight he hit on Monday en route to a 25-point night.
But once again, Butler came through late by drawing a shooting foul on a triple, holding his injured back after the shot went up. Butler made all three foul shots to give the Warriors a 107-104 lead with 58 seconds remaining, but Sengun answered with a layup.
Then Curry and Butler missed tough shots inside 40 seconds to give the Rockets possession with 13 seconds on the clock. With the game on the line, Green came up with the stop on Sengun, and Butler grabbed the biggest rebound of the night.
Butler knocked down the two free throws, and VanVleet missed the desperation three as time expired.
In a series that had been chippy from the start, tempers flared with seven minutes in the second quarter.
Draymond Green set a hard screen on Amen Thompson, throwing an elbow in the process. Steph Curry, the ballhandler, was then knocked to the floor by Brooks, and Brooks proceeded to try to grab the ball from Curry as Draymond Green tried to help his teammate up.
A scrum ensued and Curry was deemed to have taunted Brooks. Curry, Green and Brooks, were assessed technical fouls for their part.
That was just the start.
With 2:44 left in the second quarter and the Rockets leading 47-46, Draymond Green fell on Tari Eason, putting his legs on Eason’s head/back area.
Eason took offense, standing over Green. The Warriors forward then grabbed onto Eason as he tried to get up. Another scrum followed, which earned Green a flagrant – not an ejection – and Eason a technical foul with the Rockets leading 47-46.
That frantic ending appeared to throw the Warriors off. After not having a turnover in the first 14 minutes, Golden State had four giveaways in its final five possessions of the half to help the Rockets take a 57-50 lead into halftime.
In between the stoppages, fouls and near-fights, the teams also played a basketball game.
Houston took a 57-50 lead into halftime, but the Warriors stormed back and took a 10-point lead in five minutes with a vintage 18-1 run that featured nine points by Buddy Hield.
The Rockets responded with a 7-0 run, capped by a VanVleet pullup 3-pointer after no defender picked him up in transition.
It was a game from there, with the Rockets eventually tying the game at 74 apiece before Brandin Podziemski answered with a wide open 3-pointer.
Neither side could create separation until the late, when Butler took over to rip the game away from Houston.
Golden State will play Game 5 in Houston on Wednesday.
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