On Friday night with the chance to eliminate the Rockets and move on to the second round, Kerr and the Warriors will tweak their starting group again, adding Gary Payton II to the starting lineup and move Podziemski to the bench.

Buddy Hield gave the Warriors a 102-101 lead on a sidestep 3-pointer with 3:18 left in the fourth quarter, the hosts first advantage in six minutes. Butler pushed it to a three-point advantage with a tough layup over two defenders a minute later.

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