HOUSTON — Buddy Hield grew to become an unlikely playoff hero for the Golden State Warriors, main the crew early in Sport 7 in opposition to the Houston Rockets earlier than Stephen Curry took over late.
Curry scored 14 of his 22 factors within the fourth quarter, Hield made 9 3-pointers and scored 33 factors, and the Warriors superior to the Western Convention semifinals with a 103-89 win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday evening.
“We were lucky to get out of this series,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr mentioned. “That was an incredibly impressive display of resolve.”
The Warriors will face the Timberwolves Tuesday evening in Minnesota.
After not scoring in Sport 6, Hield had a scorching first half with six 3-pointers and 22 factors to hold the Warriors to a 12-point lead, with Curry scoring simply three factors earlier than the break. Then Curry took over within the closing minutes and carried out his signature “night night” gesture because the Warriors put the Rockets away.
“This was not just a lights-out shooting performance for Buddy,” Kerr mentioned. “It was a two-way performance. I thought his defense was fantastic.”
The Warriors grew to become the seventh No. 7 seed in NBA historical past to advance to the semifinals and eradicated Houston within the playoffs for a fifth time. They despatched the James Harden-led Rockets packing 4 instances between 2015 and 2019.
Not one of the gamers from these groups stay with Houston, main Fred VanVleet to say earlier than the sequence that “this ain’t that team.”
Draymond Inexperienced, who helped beat the Rockets in Sport 7 in 2018 to advance to the NBA Finals, talked about VanVleet’s quote earlier than persevering with.
“It’s that organization though,” he mentioned. “We like coming to the city playing in these situations. It’s been good to us.”
Hield was 9 of 11 from 3-point vary, setting an NBA report for a Sport 7 and making extra 3s than the Rockets, who had been 6 of 18 from lengthy vary.
“Just trying to seize the moment and relish the moment and just be in the moment at the same time,” Hield mentioned. “Just trying to be myself. But tonight was fun.”
Curry added 10 rebounds and 7 assists.
Amen Thompson scored 24 factors to guide Houston, which pressured Sport 7 with two straight wins however couldn’t put away the skilled Warriors.
“We had our chances in this series,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka mentioned. “We all expected to continue to be playing, so it’s a letdown. It’s going to sting now, but use it as motivation and let’s all come back better.”
Golden State led by eight coming into the fourth and opened the quarter with a 5-0 run, capped by a 3 from Curry, to make it 75-62.
Houston scored the subsequent six factors, however the Warriors used a 7-2 spurt with 4 factors from Curry to make it 82-70 with about seven minutes left.
Curry made a contested 3, rebounded a missed jumper by Thompson and located Hield for an open nook 3 that made it 94-74 with 2:31 remaining.
That despatched most of the red-clad Rockets followers streaming for the exits.
Jimmy Butler added 20 factors, eight rebounds and 7 assists for the Warriors, who improved to 28-11 since his debut on Feb. 8 after a commerce from Miami.
VanVleet scored a mixed 55 factors within the final two video games to assist Houston lengthen the sequence. However he was restricted to 17 factors on 6-of-13 taking pictures Sunday to ship the second-seeded Rockets residence early of their first journey to the playoffs since 2020.
He was removed from the one Rocket who struggled. Large man Alperen Sengun had 21 factors and 14 rebounds. However he missed a number of straightforward pictures on a 9-of-23 evening.
Jalen Inexperienced, who had 38 factors to guide Houston to a Sport 2 win, completed with eight factors.
“First playoffs is no excuse,” he mentioned. “I’ve got to be better.”
The Warriors performed with out key reserve Gary Payton II, who sat out with an sickness that coach Steve Kerr mentioned had him “sick as a dog.”
Draymond Inexperienced added 16 factors for the Warriors, who had 4 starters rating in double figures.
