Stephen Curry and Buddy Hield Help Golden State Warriors Advance With Game 7 Performances
The Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Buddy Hield both had strong performances on the night, with Curry mostly doing his damage in the second half of Golden State’s 103-89 win against the Rockets on Sunday. Hield and Curry set the tone from the three-point range in this game, especially Hield.
Golden State’s slow pace neutralized Houston’s game plan overall in this game. The only way it could work in the way it did was the shooting of Hield and Curry in the big moments when they needed it from them. Here’s an in-depth look at each guy’s performance for the Warriors.
Stephen Curry’s Performance in Depth
Curry in Game 7 had 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists, on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and 4-of-10 from three-point range. Curry had 19 second-half points in this game after a struggling first half, with him not scoring his first points until 33 seconds remained in the half. The Rockets had a decent game plan against Curry early in this game, but you can only contain Curry for so long. He was deadly in the second half of this game.
Curry getting 10 rebounds in this game was huge for the Warriors because it showed that it was a team commitment to limit the Rockets’ second-chance points. That had been killing the Warriors the last couple of games. Now, let us talk about the star of the night from the Bahamas, Mr. Hield.
Buddy Hield, The Star Of the Night
Hield had 33 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the field, including 9-of-11 from three-point range in this game. Hield was the ignition switch for the Warriors in the first half when Curry was struggling, as he had 22 points in that first half for Golden State. Hield became the second player ever to hit 9+ threes on at least 80% shooting from deep, joining “THE JET” Jason Terry, who did it on May 8th, 2011.
Hield was also the star of the night postgame because after the game, right after his media availability, he and Jimmy Butler created a fun, light-hearted moment between them. As he was having fun with Butler, he kept telling him to go on, it was such a funny viral moment. Here’s a video of the moment.
Final Thoughts
Buddy Hield and Stephen Curry were electric for the Warriors in Game 7. Hield could continue to be a strong role player for the Warriors if he can maintain some of this shooting performance for them. Curry is Curry. I look for the Warriors to give the Timberwolves a better series than the Lakers did in Round 1, which should be another fun series in the second round. Total Apex Sports will have more NBA coverage throughout the rest of the playoffs as we are officially winding down the 2024-25 season.
