After two games and a half games of battling Houston’s lumbering, earth-bound giants in what seemed to be a constricting box, Steph Curry and the Warriors finally broke loose. Without an injured Jimmy Butler, a hot-shooting Buddy Hield gave Curry the oxygen he needed to breathe — and score 36 points — against the Rockets.

To the surprise of absolutely no Warriors fans, just minutes into Game 3 of the Rockets-Warriors first-round playoff series Steph Curry was clobbered by a Rockets player while shooting a three and did not draw a whistle.