Dub Hub: Jimmy Butler salutes Steph Curry’s ‘Batman’ heroics in Game 3

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Monday, April 28th.

In today’s Dub Hub:

• Jimmy Butler thanks Steph Curry and the team for his “Batman” performance in Game 3 win over the Rockets.
• Warriors reportedly have ‘belief that Jimmy Butler will return for Game 4 on Monday, according to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater.
• Bucks’ Damian Lillard suffered a torn left Achilles in Game 4 loss to the Pacers.

The Golden State Warriors took control of their first-round series against the Houston Rockets on Saturday night with a 104-93 victory in Game 3 to go up 2-1. Despite missing Jimmy Butler, who was ruled out with a pelvis contusion suffered in Game 2, the Warriors found a way—thanks once again to a postseason masterpiece from Stephen Curry. He delivered another spectacular performance, finishing with 36 points on 12-of-23 shooting, along with nine assists and seven rebounds.

After the game, Butler—continuing his Batman theme for this playoff run—thanked Curry and the team for stepping up in his absence.

While Curry stole the show, Golden State’s supporting cast came through in critical moments. Gary Payton II scored 16 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory. Buddy Hield added 17 points (second-most on the team), providing another steady scoring option when the Rockets turned up the pressure.

Even while sidelined, Butler made his presence felt from the bench, energizing the team and coaching up his teammates whenever he had the chance. Head coach Steve Kerr compared Butler’s leadership from the sidelines to the impact former Warriors veteran Andre Iguodala once had for them.

With the momentum back on their side, the Warriors now have an opportunity to tighten their grip on this series when they host Game 4 on Monday night. Whether Butler is cleared to return or not, Golden State’s Game 3 performance showed they have the championship DNA to rise to the moment and keep this postseason run alive.

For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Monday, April 28th:

Warriors News:

Buddy Hield plays role of ‘Alfred’ in Warriors’ Game 3 win without Jimmy Butler | The Athletic

“I feel like this season went by so fast because of all the fun I’m having,” Hield said. “Just having fun, balling, seeing basketball from a different perspective. Championship mindset, how Steve and the organization go about their stuff. Players around here, nobody has ego. Big picture. I’ve been on teams where it’s a lot of egos, and you’re just fighting with that. Here it is … Steph Curry — and that settles that.”

The Rockets blew it against the Jimmy Butler-less Warriors. They might regret it | The Athletic

It’s not all on the 23-year-old Green, but his Jekyll-and-Hyde tendency reared its ugly head again as he followed his 38-point outing in Game 2 with a nine-point performance that, surprisingly, was met with a laundry list of excuses afterward. Yes, it’s true that the Warriors double-teamed and blitzed him throughout the vast majority of his 39 minutes. And yes, as Udoka and his teammates highlighted, he often found the open man in those situations only to see the subsequent shot miss the mark.

But there was a humbling lesson for Green to learn by watching Curry’s magnificence, how he somehow managed to conjure a 36-point outing on this night when Udoka threw everything they had in his direction. To put it simply, that’s what stars do.

Warriors have ‘belief’ that Jimmy Butler will be able to return for Game 4, per report

GP2 serves as Warriors’ varnish in shining Game 3 performance | NBC Sports Bay Area

“It’s huge,” Draymond Green said. “We know G is an incredible defender, but when he’s playing that way offensively, getting to the hole, finishing — he’s a great finisher around the basket — knocking his threes down … if you’re getting that type of two-way basketball from G, it really lifts this team and is just another threat that [opponents] have to deal with.”

Draymond Green and Jalen Green trade barbs in their postgame press conferences

NBA News:

Referees acknowledge missed foul call at the end of Pistons-Knicks Game 4 | The Athletic

“During live play, it was judged that Josh Hart made a legal defensive play,” Guthrie said. “After postgame review, we observed that Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr., and a foul should have been called.”

Both teams seemed to understand the magnitude of the play.

“Did I make contact with (Hardaway)? Yeah. I made contact with him,” Hart said a few minutes before the NBA released the pool report. “Was it legal? I don’t know. We’ll see in the last two-minute report.”

Lakers-Timberwolves: 5 takeaways as Edwards ignites Game 4 comeback | NBA

In this one, Lakers coach JJ Redick was the PT tyrant, refusing to make a substitution after halftime. He stuck with Dončić, James, Hachimura, Austin Reaves and Dorian Finney-Smith for all 24 minutes of the third and fourth. It marked the first time any coach has done that in a playoff game since the NBA started keeping track in the 1997 postseason.

Your mileage may vary. But several Wolves and certain stats suggested that L.A.’s “Iron 5” were gassed before the final horn. The Lakers made only five of their 18 shots in the final quarter, got outrebounded 13-9 and had two costly turnovers.

Bucks’ Damian Lillard diagnosed with a torn left Achilles

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

The micro and macro adjustments that led to the Warriors’ 2-1 series lead over the Rockets

In order to minimize Post from having to defend against Jalen in pick-and-roll situations, Kerr shuffled Post away from defending Alperen Şengün toward “guarding” Amen Thompson. Post was comfortable with sagging off of Thompson — a non-threat from the perimeter and otherwise limited in his ability to self-create and make passing reads — in order to stay close to the rim and be in a position to contest drives and, more importantly, grab defensive boards.

Follow @unstoppablebaby on Twitter for all the latest news on the Golden State Warriors.