SAN FRANCISCO – Facing the league’s most physical and handsy defense without his fearless co-star, the Warriors asked 37-year-old Steph Curry to put the offense on his shoulders in the third game of Golden State’s Western Conference playoff series with the Houston Rockets.

But Houston cannot afford to let bench players Gary Payton II and Buddy Hield make major impacts. Payton finished with a postseason career-high 16 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, and Hield was 5-for-11 on 3-point attempts to help finish with 17 points in 29 minutes.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry eventually found his shooting groove while Houston tried everything to stop him, finishing with 36 points, nine assists and seven rebounds to lead the Golden State Warriors past the Rockets 104-93 on Saturday night without Jimmy Butler for a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.