Warriors find unlikely hero late to secure huge win despite Jimmy Butler absence

When Dillon Brooks hit a wing three with just under six minutes remaining in the fourth-quarter, the Houston Rockets found themselves up one in Game 3 of their first-round series against the Golden State Warriors.

Enter Gary Payton II.

Playing without 6x All-Star Jimmy Butler who's dealing with a deep glute contusion, Payton was the unlikely hero for the Warriors with nine points in less than two minutes to give his team control in what resulted as a 104-93 victory.

The Warriors have taken a 2-1 series lead despite Jimmy Butler's absence

Payton may have been the one putting the ball in the basket, but it was all created by Stephen Curry who consistently drew two defenders and found Payton on the roll, while also finding him for a huge corner three during the scoring outburst.

Payton put the finishing touches on with a transition dunk in the final minute, recording a playoff career-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting in 21 minutes. It was Curry though who once again lifted his short-handed team throughout the game, leading Golden State back from what was once a 13-point deficit in the second-quarter.

The Warriors still trailed by 12 with just over two minutes remaining in the first-half, yet finished on a 9-0 run to storm back into the game. The hosts briefly took the lead in a back-and-forth third-quarter, but the Rockets still maintained a two-point advantage heading to the fourth.

After struggling to score for large parts of the first-half, the Golden State offense came alive in the final period to outscore the visitors 35-22 and take a 2-1 lead in the series despite Butler's absence.

Curry finished with 36 points, seven rebounds and nine assists on 12-of-23 shooting, with 25 of those coming in the second and third-quarters as the 2x MVP took over without his fellow veteran star.

Buddy Hield had multiple mistakes that had fans tearing their hair out across his 29 minutes, but the veteran sharpshooter also hit five threes to finish as Golden State's second-leading scorer with 17 points.

In Butler's absence, Steve Kerr went to a revamped starting lineup that included Jonathan Kuminga and Quinten Post while Moses Moody was moved back to the bench. Kuminga had seven points and two assists in 17 minutes, but didn't play in the final period as Kerr preferred the likes of Hield, Moody and Payton.

Post went 0-of-3 from 3-point range and only had two points on 1-of-7 shooting, but found the perfect time to have a career-high 12 rebounds to go with four assists in 27 minutes.

Draymond Green was everywhere defensively down the stretch, recording two steals and three blocks while limiting Alperun Sengun to just 15 points on an inefficient 7-of-18 shooting. After exploding for 38 points in his team's Game 2 victory, Jalen Green was also kept quiet with only nine points on 4-of-11 shooting.

Butler is expected to be available for Game 4 at Chase Center on Monday, with the Warriors looking to take a decisive 3-1 advantage in what becomes another pivotal matchup.