HOUSTON -- Having ignited the scoring barrage that not only secured Game 4 but in all likelihood this first-round series, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were pointed in their commentary regarding the loss of Stephen Curry and how the Golden State Warriors subsequently responded to it.

Thompson and Green paced the third-quarter, 3-point blitz that carried the Golden State Warriors to a 121-94 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday at Toyota Center and a 3-1 lead in this Western Conference postseason series.

Moments after Golden State lost Curry to a sprained right knee, Thompson and Green unleashed a hail of 3s that turned a nip-and-tuck affair into a blowout entering the fourth quarter. The Warriors can close the series at Oracle Arena in Oakland on Wednesday, again facing the possibility Curry will be unavailable in their quest to repeat as champs.

"It's concerning not having our best player," Thompson said. "No one is going to feel sorry for us. Life is obviously much more difficult on the court without him because he does so many great things, but at the same we still have a job to do. We still have a very capable team, a deep team that's built for if something like this does happen and can hold on for a while until he comes back."

Added Green: "Obviously when your guy goes down you want to pick him up. With him being out that third quarter we've got to bring it. Let's not fool ourselves: when you're hitting shots at the rate we were hitting them at, that helps."

Thompson finished with 23 points while Green added 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Thompson and Green combined to score 25 of the Warriors' 41 third-quarter points in levying the knockout blow. They hit 7 of 10 3-pointers while the Warriors shot 14 of 22 in the third.

Golden State set an NBA postseason record with 21 3-pointers.

Curry, sidelined for Games 2 and 3 with right ankle woes, was injured slipping on a wet spot as the hotly contested first half came to a close. He returned to the court to warm up just prior to the second half but was unable to continue. He is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday.

"I thought his movement looked good. His conditioning was better than I expected," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Curry, who missed 7 of 9 shots while posting six points, five assists and five turnovers. "And then he slips on the wet spot unfortunately, and back to square one."

Thompson ignited the run with a 3 at the 10:15 mark for a 64-57 lead. Green added two 3s and a dunk that extended the lead to nine. The Warriors followed with three consecutive treys, two from Thompson, before Shaun Livingston completed a three-point play with 4:39 left in the third period. Thompson added another trey for an 89-74 lead.

Golden State started 6 of 7 from behind the arc before closing the third quarter 8 for 13, its last miss coming when Green tossed up a 69-foot heave at the buzzer. Green had built the lead to 97-76 with his dunk.

"Terrible way, terrible way, terrible way to lose," Rockets guard James Harden said. "The third quarter, it was just a breakdown. It was a breakdown that led to 41 points."

Dwight Howard posted a double-double (19 points, 15 boards) while Harden had 18 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists and seven steals. Michael Beasley scored 17 points in 20 minutes off the Rockets' bench.

Beasley provided the initial thrust after the Warriors built a 27-17 lead on an Andre Iguodala (22 points) 3-pointer with 1:47 left in the first quarter. Beasley responded with seven quick points, and when Harden drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer, the Rockets had erased that 10-point deficit.

Howard and Harden combined to energize the Rockets in the second quarter, working in concert to build the Houston lead to 43-36 via a Howard dunk with 8:48 remaining. But the Rockets never found their stroke from deep (5 for 27 on 3s), and their 18 turnovers yielded 23 points for the Warriors, who closed the contest shooting 51.7 percent.

"They made shots so we've got to give them credit," Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "But again, you go back and look at how many of the shots were created by us not doing little things we needed to do.

"So give them credit for making their shots. We didn't do a good enough job defensively paying attention to the details to stop (them)."

NOTES: As expected, Warriors PG Stephen Curry returned to the starting lineup after missing Games 2 and 3 with a right ankle injury suffered in the series opener. Curry practiced without issue on Saturday and arrived at Toyota Center on Sunday pain free. The Warriors are 3-2 without Curry this season. ... Rockets F Corey Brewer played a total of 41 minutes through the opening three games of the series, a decline in minutes tied to the production of the Rockets' power forwards and the increased-minutes allotment to F Trevor Ariza, who played a series-high 117 minutes entering Game 4. ... Rockets C Dwight Howard is one of three players in NBA playoff history (Wilt Chamberlain and Bob Pettit) with career averages of at least 19 points and 14 rebounds (minimum: 10 games played).