Stephen Curry heats up to lead Warriors to Game 3 rout

OAKLAND - For all the anticipation, all the talk of how this game might define the rest of this series, yada yada yada, the game was rather anti-climactic. Strictly no contest.

The Warriors asserted their personality and style of play, and the Houston Rockets accepted it. Looked on amazed. Played the game on the Warriors’ agenda.

The Warriors won Game 3 of the Western Conference final by 41 points. The final score was 126-85. It was the biggest playoff win in franchise history, and the Warriors’ 16th consecutive playoff win at home, a new NBA record.

And it was Stephen Curry’s comeback game. His reasserting-himself game. His game. After scoring just 34 points total in Games 1 and 2, Curry scored a game-high 35 points Sunday night, including 26 points in the second half. He came alive.

“You can analyze him all you want,” Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni said after the game. “He’s still a pretty good basketball player.”

And so is Draymond Green, who finished with 10 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 turnover. Green led the Warriors defense, which allowed the Rockets to shoot just 39.5 percent from the field, and forced the Houston to commit 19 turnovers. The Warriors committed only eight turnovers.

“When we defend like that and we take care of the ball, then we’re not giving anything easy and we’re making them earn every point,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said.

The Warriors did not make the Rockets earn every point early. The defense showed up late. The Rockets attacked Curry on first play of game, as James Harden drove by him and flipped a pass to Clint Capela, who tipped the ball into basket. Easy.

The Rockets continued isolating Curry on defense. Trevor Ariza, whom Curry was guarding, would set a screen for the ball handler - usually James Harden. Curry would leave Ariza and double-team the ball-handler, who then would pass to Ariza or Capela for a wide-open bucket. Curry couldn’t defend this simple play, and the Rockets took an early 8-4 lead. That’s when Kerr called his first timeout.

“We took a timeout just to clarify our defensive strategy,” Kerr said. “We tweaked a few things.”

After the timeout, suddenly Curry defended Harden one on one. And suddenly, Harden missed layups and committed turnovers. And the Warriors ran.

They went on a 9-0 run as Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala each scored at the rim in transition. In Game 2, the Warriors scored only seven fast-break points total. In Game 3, they scored 10 fast-break points in the first 10 minutes, and the Rockets scored none. That was the difference in the first quarter.

At the end of the period, the Warriors led by 9 points, even though Curry had made only 2 of 7 shots from the field, and just 1 of 6 on 3s.

Curry continued to struggle on offense during the second quarter. He forced shots and missed open looks and finished the first half shooting 3 of 11. But, the Warriors extended their lead anyway with their defense. It was particularly effective against Chris Paul, who finished the game with 13 points and 4 assists. At least three times, Paul lost his handle while dribbling the ball. He wasn’t himself.

Paul appeared to injure his right ankle at the end of Game 2, but the Rockets didn’t list him on their injury report. “There’s nothing wrong at all,” D’Antoni said Sunday before the game. “We’re not going to win without him. So, if he’s got to limp and drag his leg to the finish line, so be it, and he’s ready to do that.”

Paul didn’t get to drag anything to the finish line on Sunday, because the Rockets didn’t make it that far. The Warriors put them away before Houston made a shot in the second half. The Warriors broke the game open in the third, as usual. Opened the quarter with a 10-0 run. Made it look embarrassingly easy.

“We played soft,” D’Antoni said.

These are the Rockets?

They tried to stay in the game with a run of their own, a 10-2 run. But, the Warriors put them away again. Actually, Curry put them away. He made a midrange jumper, then a layup, then a 30-foot 3-pointer, then a step-back 3 in Harden’s face, then another layup and a technical free throw.

“It’s a lot easier to shoot when you’re up 20, which they were most of the game,” D’Antoni said. “It’s very comfortable. We didn’t make them uncomfortable at all.”

Curry scored 13 points in a little more than four minutes during the third quarter, and left the game to a standing ovation. No matter what anyone says, it must have hurt the two-time MVP for people to doubt him. He answered the doubt through his play Sunday night.

“I won’t let two tough games shooting keep me frustrated,” Curry said.

The Rockets were the frustrated ones Sunday night. Harden looked sick in the fourth quarter. He stood and waved at Shaun Livingston as Livingston dribbled behind his back, sped by and dunked.

The Rockets gave up. And they admitted it. Admitted they saved themselves for the next game, Game 4.

“We could have lost by two points and played guys 40, 45 minutes and been dead tired,” D’Antoni said. “Well, we’re not. Let’s see what we can do Tuesday.”

Showing up would be good. They forgot to do that Sunday.