What we learned as Steph Curry, Buddy Hield lead Warriors to Game 7 over Rockets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
HOUSTON – Survive and advance. The Warriors withstood a Game 7 slog Sunday at the Toyota Center, beating the Houston Rockets 103-89 to avoid a three-games-to-one collapse and advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs, where they’ll face the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Game 1 is Tuesday night at the Target Center in Minnesota.
The Warriors improved to 9-3 in elimination games under coach Steve Kerr, and 5-1 on the road. They’ve never lost in the first round with Kerr at the helm.
The Warriors have faced the Rockets in five playoff series and have now beaten them all five times.
Steph Curry was bottled up early on, but exploded in the fourth quarter, totaling 22 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks. The rest of the Warriors’ Big Three came up huge, too. Jimmy Butler had a near triple-double of 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Draymond Green scored 16 points to go with his six rebounds and five assists.
To beat the Rockets, the Warriors needed someone outside of that trio to step up. Buddy Hield remained in the starting lineup and answered the call, scoring 22 points in the first half and finishing with a game-high 33 overall.
A tone was set early by the Warriors defensively. When the Rockets began mounting a comeback in the third quarter, the Warriors quieted the storm and outscored them 33-27 in the fourth quarter. Experience and championship pedigree played out in front of our eyes.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ Game 7 win.
Dray Day
As the majority of Warriors remained getting shots up at shootaround, Green was deep in conversation with Kerr. Few words were spoken by Draymond, listening deeply and nodding along to Kerr’s message. He was locked in, and it showed to start his sixth Game 7.
After forcing a travel on Rockets center Alperen Sengun, Green followed by making a cutting layup for the first two points of the game. He then perfectly contested Rockets shooting guard Jalen Green at the rim and made a three at the top of the arc to give the Warriors a quick 5-0 lead. Green in the first quarter played nine minutes for the Warriors and was a plus-7 with eight points and three rebounds.
Green in the first half was a plus-14, and Sengun was a minus-13. Defensively, he was all over the place and aggressively stayed vertical whenever the Rockets challenged. Offensively, he was under control and was the Warriors’ second-leading scorer.
The Warriors needed an all-time performance from Green, and he knew it. Green stifled the much bigger Sengun, and did more than his part offensively. Green finished as a plus-18, and Sengun was a minus-12.
Trust In Buddy
Kerr already had used four different starting lineups through the first six games of the series. His first five couldn’t be the same Sunday since Gary Payton II was ruled out due to a bad illness. There were plenty of question marks surrounding what Kerr would do with Hield, too.
Hield only scored four points in the Warriors’ Game 5 loss, and then didn’t score a single point in their Game 6 loss. Yet Kerr kept him in the starting lineup for Game 7. And it sure paid off.
The longtime sharpshooter found his hot hand again, lighting up the Rockets’ defense even more than he did when Hield scored 17 points in Game 3 and 15 in Game 4. Hield in the first quarter alone was up to 13 points, beating the buzzer from 42 feet to give the Warriors a 23-19 lead. Through the first half, Hield scored 22 of the Warriors’ 51 points, going 8 of 9 from the field and 6 of 7 on threes, all while Curry was held to just three points.
Hield in the third quarter took just one shot, missing a three, but then cashed in on his first try in the fourth quarter to give the Warriors a 10-point lead. He scored another 11 in the fourth quarter, including three 3-pointers. His 22 points in the first half made all the difference, and were Hield’s most points ever for a playoff game.
Steph’s Deeper Impact
He missed his first five shots, he only had three points at halftime and his impact still couldn’t be ignored. Curry in the first two quarters led all players in defensive rebounds (six), assists (five), steals (one), blocked shots (two) and plus/minus (plus-16). That’s what superstars do when their main power is being zapped.
There’s also no doubt players like Hield were a beneficiary of all the attention the Rockets were putting on following Curry’s every move. His gravity at 37 years old with an injured right thumb is still as real as ever.
But the Rockets came to life in the third quarter, cutting the lead down to three at one point, and Curry still couldn’t get going offensively. The Warriors held an eight-point lead entering the fourth quarter, and Curry immediately hushed the home crowd, first driving by Jabari Smith Jr. for a layup and then draining a deep three on the first two possessions of the fourth quarter.
Curry was scoreless in the first quarter, limited to three points in the first half and was at eight points through three quarters. The fourth quarter is winning time, and Steph put the Rockets to sleep with 14 points over the final 12 minutes.
Night Night, Houston.
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What we learned as Steph Curry, Buddy Hield lead Warriors to Game 7 over Rockets
HOUSTON – Survive and advance. The Warriors withstood a Game 7 slog Sunday at the Toyota Center, beating the Houston Rockets 103-89 to avoid a three-games-to-one collapse and advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs, where they’ll face the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Game 1 is Tuesday night at the Target Center in Minnesota.
The Warriors improved to 9-3 in elimination games under coach Steve Kerr, and 5-1 on the road. They’ve never lost in the first round with Kerr at the helm.
SIGN UP HERE The Warriors have faced the Rockets in five playoff series and have now beaten them all five times.
Steph Curry was bottled up early on, but exploded in the fourth quarter, totaling 22 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks. The rest of the Warriors’ Big Three came up huge, too. Jimmy Butler had a near triple-double of 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Draymond Green scored 16 points to go with his six rebounds and five assists.
To beat the Rockets, the Warriors needed someone outside of that trio to step up. Buddy Hield remained in the starting lineup and answered the call, scoring 22 points in the first half and finishing with a game-high 33 overall.
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A tone was set early by the Warriors defensively. When the Rockets began mounting a comeback in the third quarter, the Warriors quieted the storm and outscored them 33-27 in the fourth quarter. Experience and championship pedigree played out in front of our eyes.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ Game 7 win.
Dray Day
As the majority of Warriors remained getting shots up at shootaround, Green was deep in conversation with Kerr. Few words were spoken by Draymond, listening deeply and nodding along to Kerr’s message. He was locked in, and it showed to start his sixth Game 7.
After forcing a travel on Rockets center Alperen Sengun, Green followed by making a cutting layup for the first two points of the game. He then perfectly contested Rockets shooting guard Jalen Green at the rim and made a three at the top of the arc to give the Warriors a quick 5-0 lead. Green in the first quarter played nine minutes for the Warriors and was a plus-7 with eight points and three rebounds.
Green in the first half was a plus-14, and Sengun was a minus-13. Defensively, he was all over the place and aggressively stayed vertical whenever the Rockets challenged. Offensively, he was under control and was the Warriors’ second-leading scorer.
The Warriors needed an all-time performance from Green, and he knew it. Green stifled the much bigger Sengun, and did more than his part offensively. Green finished as a plus-18, and Sengun was a minus-12.
Trust In Buddy
Kerr already had used four different starting lineups through the first six games of the series. His first five couldn’t be the same Sunday since Gary Payton II was ruled out due to a bad illness. There were plenty of question marks surrounding what Kerr would do with Hield, too.
Hield only scored four points in the Warriors’ Game 5 loss, and then didn’t score a single point in their Game 6 loss. Yet Kerr kept him in the starting lineup for Game 7. And it sure paid off.
The longtime sharpshooter found his hot hand again, lighting up the Rockets’ defense even more than he did when Hield scored 17 points in Game 3 and 15 in Game 4. Hield in the first quarter alone was up to 13 points, beating the buzzer from 42 feet to give the Warriors a 23-19 lead. Through the first half, Hield scored 22 of the Warriors’ 51 points, going 8 of 9 from the field and 6 of 7 on threes, all while Curry was held to just three points.
Hield in the third quarter took just one shot, missing a three, but then cashed in on his first try in the fourth quarter to give the Warriors a 10-point lead. He scored another 11 in the fourth quarter, including three 3-pointers. His 22 points in the first half made all the difference, and were Hield’s most points ever for a playoff game.
Steph’s Deeper Impact
He missed his first five shots, he only had three points at halftime and his impact still couldn’t be ignored. Curry in the first two quarters led all players in defensive rebounds (six), assists (five), steals (one), blocked shots (two) and plus/minus (plus-16). That’s what superstars do when their main power is being zapped.
There’s also no doubt players like Hield were a beneficiary of all the attention the Rockets were putting on following Curry’s every move. His gravity at 37 years old with an injured right thumb is still as real as ever.
But the Rockets came to life in the third quarter, cutting the lead down to three at one point, and Curry still couldn’t get going offensively. The Warriors held an eight-point lead entering the fourth quarter, and Curry immediately hushed the home crowd, first driving by Jabari Smith Jr. for a layup and then draining a deep three on the first two possessions of the fourth quarter.
Curry was scoreless in the first quarter, limited to three points in the first half and was at eight points through three quarters. The fourth quarter is winning time, and Steph put the Rockets to sleep with 14 points over the final 12 minutes.
Night Night, Houston.
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