Early in the fourth quarter when the Warriors were down 77-74, Curry crossed up Brooks and launched a three-pointer. After Curry released the shot, Brooks, who was right up in Curry's grill, seemed to swipe at his bandaged right hand (Curry has been dealing with thumb injury since January).

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.

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.