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Golden State center Zaza Pachulia smiled as he reminded a group of reporters that he'd outscored teammate Klay Thompson before walking away Saturday night.

Pachulia chipped in seven points to Thompson's six, and that stat said a lot for the way the two-time defending Western Conference champions were able to grind out a win in Game 3 at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Their usual suspects from their most-recent playoff runs weren't the ones doing the damage Saturday night.

Steph Curry scored 23 points, but he needed 20 shots and only made six to get there. And he was only 4 of 18 from the floor before making his last two attempts.

Thompson, the other half of the "Splash Brothers," went 1 of 9 from the floor and didn't connect on a 3-point basket (0 of 4).

For all the talk about Kevin Durant jumping on the Golden State championship wagon, he certainly pulled more than his fair share of weight in Game 3 while the Warriors who led the way to two straight NBA Finals appearances deferred to him. Durant scored 38 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to put the Warriors up 3-0 in the series.

"Every playoff game is different," Curry said. "We found a different way to win. We were on KD's back for most of the game. That's why we trust in each other to pick each other up when things aren't clicking and do everything else that you can to help your team win if your shot isn't falling."

Even at the end of quarters, when Curry almost exclusively handles the ball and either takes or creates the last shot, Curry handed over the controls to Durant.

"Myself, the other 19,000 people in the arena and everybody watching on TV saw the same thing I saw," Curry said. "So it was an easy decision at that moment."

Durant scored 22 points in the first half, while Curry and Thompson combined for nine points on 3-of-11 shooting before the intermission. Meanwhile, Draymond Green finished the half with as many fouls (three personal fouls plus one technical) as points (four).

Curry came alive to score seven in the third quarter — though he needed 10 shots — and the Warriors were able to close out the game with late contributions from Curry as well as Andre Iguadala (11 points).

"I thought we executed better defensively," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "There's always some things — they put so much pressure on you that you have breakdowns, but you make a few little adjustments. For the most part, our guys just really dug in. I can't say enough about how we competed. I can't say enough about the team that beat us."

lworthy@sltrib.com

Twitter: @LWorthySports