In Warriors’ Game 7 win, Buddy Hield was the emphatic answer they needed

HOUSTON — Steph Curry snuck up behind Houston big man Alperen Şengün and stole the ball. Then, with just over three minutes remaining and the Golden State Warriors up 14, Curry went to work on Jalen Green. Cross right, cross left, stepback, splash.

It was dagger worthy, but Curry faked his signature celebration. He put his hands together, ready to “Night. Night.” But before they reached the side of his head, he pulled them back down, shaking his head. He lifted them again, then brought them back down again. The lead was 17, fewer than three minutes remained, fans were filing out of the Toyota Center. But it wasn’t time.

On the next defensive possession, after a Houston Rockets miss led to a scramble for the rebound, Curry tracked down the loose ball, took it from Şengün, then gradually pushed it up court to safety. He waited for Houston’s defense, though, choosing to burn away seconds with Green on his back. When he looked up, Curry saw Buddy Hield wide open in the corner. The mission went from killing the clock to killing the Rockets.

It was only right for the final dagger, the finishing blow to Houston’s season, to be delivered by Hield. Breaking the heart of the Rockets is part of Golden State’s modern tradition. These Warriors are now 5-0 in playoff series against the Rockets since 2015, and Curry has provided the death knell for Houston before. But Hield deserved the honors this year.

And when he drilled the corner 3-pointer, Curry could, finally, tuck in the Rockets. It was his first “Night. Night.” inspired by a shot from someone else.

Sunday’s 103-89 Game 7 victory over Houston, sending the Warriors to a second-round matchup against Minnesota, was sponsored by Hield. He provided the key to the Warriors’ escape from a grueling series. His career performance will go down as one of the most memorable by a role player during this championship era. He earned all $8.8 million of this year’s salary in one game.

He scored 33 points, a career-playoff high. He tied an NBA record with nine 3-pointers in a Game 7. He played his best defense of the series, chasing Fred VanVleet around all game, preventing the Rockets’ white-hot shooter from draining more 3s. And Hield still had the legs to shoot.

Was this his greatest game ever?

“Ask Dillon Brooks,” Hield said, smiling.

This, clearly, wasn’t the first time Brooks has been on the receiving end of a Hield explosion. Hield was hearkening back nine years to March 2016, when he put up 37 for the Oklahoma Sooners in the Elite Eight, knocking off Oregon, featuring Brooks, to earn a spot in the Final Four.

“I told him,” Hield said, clasping on his several diamond link chains, this one with a diamond-encrusted No. 7 medallion, “‘I sent you home. I’ma send you home again.’”

Yeah, Buddy was feeling good. He earned this right. The endearing butt of the joke has a free pass to dish it. Because the Warriors were on the cusp of an embarrassing first-round exit — to an inferior team, despite what the records say — until Hield had a career night when they needed it most.

Hield having this game, on this stage, with these stakes, is a bit of poetic justice. Game 7s are notorious for their pressure. It’s the NBA’s truest win-or-go-home dynamic. And while the Warriors are led by stars intimately familiar with such tension, the rest of the roster is largely new to this. The pressing question was how they’d respond.

Hield’s jovial spirit seems tailor-made for this stress. His ethos, sprouted from his Bahamian roots, trends toward appreciation instead of stress. Fun over fear.

At shootaround, he ran off the court with a smile, but never made eye contact. When he realized folks were saying hello, he stopped, turned around and apologized as he responded to the greetings.

“I’m locked,” Hield said. “I’m locked.”

Before the game, he sat at his cubicle in the visiting locker room. His AirPods in. A big smile on his face. The nerves were swirling in his gut, he acknowledged, but so was the excitement. He’s 32 years old with nine NBA seasons behind him. Yet this is just his second postseason series, his first Game 7.

“I never been in this situation before,” Hield said. “Just trying to seize the moment. Relish the moment. Just be in the moment. … and enjoy the moment.”

He scored his first basket on a layup — attacking Brooks off the dribble — then hit an open 3. He was 9-for-31 from deep in the series coming into the game. But after that second shot went down, Hield knew he was on a heater. Just to be sure, he drilled a 42-footer at the buzzer to close the first quarter.

Hield has never been shy about shooting. But when he’s feeling it?

“Bow! Bow! Bow!”

That’s Hield’s saying, one that’s caught on with the Warriors. Now the whole team says it. In practices. In meetings. In the locker room.

If you’ve ever partied with Carribeans, you know the vibe. Hype moments are punctuated with imaginary gunshots in the air. It’s emphatic affirmation. An adrenalized declaration. A chant of excitement. The Jamaican version is more “Bop! Bop! Bop!” But Hield’s twist, developed during his Indiana Pacers days, is “Bow! Bow! Bow!”

When the game was over, and he finished his postgame interviews, Hield jogged to the visiting locker room, where the Warriors coaches and staff showered him with his chant.

They love this for him.

“I’m happy for him because he works so hard all year,” Curry said. “Getting to know him this whole season, you see how much basketball means to him. And this is only his second playoff run. And for him to have a game like that in a Game 7 … it’s pretty special.”

Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green likely would’ve figured out a way to win this game, even without Hield going scorched-earth. But in the storyline of the season, in the Warriors’ perennial pursuit to find keepers to put with their Hall of Fame core, Hield’s delivery was better.

Especially how it happened — completely out of nowhere. For the Warriors, this was like getting an unexpected fat check in the mail.

Hield went scoreless in Game 6. He totaled 43 points in the first six games of this series. In Game 7, he turned into Klay Thompson.

“I never wavered on starting Buddy,” Steve Kerr said. “He gets some good looks and, of course, Buddy getting hot changed the whole game in the first half.”

The one who has frustrated Warriors fans with his cold shooting spells delivered memorable relief. The one whose infectious, fun-loving spirit makes him a locker room favorite showed up big when the vibe grew critical.

“Of course it was Buddy,” Curry said. “He’s the most spontaneous player I’ve ever met. If anyone could go scoreless one game and then do that, it’s Buddy.”

Somehow, the Warriors’ stars found more than enough juice. After looking lifeless in Game 5 and fading late in Game 6, they brought a befitting energy and intensity for Game 7.

Curry was all over the floor, competing hard on defense, hustling to loose balls and rebounds, being extra careful with his passing as he set up his teammates. Butler was pivotal on defense, especially on the back end of the zone that puzzled Houston. He also clawed out 20 points as the Warriors’ main attack option inside, including multiple bail-out buckets at the end of the shot clock. And Draymond Green was special defensively, making Şengün work for every bucket, competing with Mt. Steven Adams for rebounds, and providing his usual stellar help defense. Green was among the most gassed Warriors after Game 6. But he said he’d dig deep for what he needed, and he did.

Still, victory would come down to who else would join them on this mission. They didn’t need much, but one more player to step up and produce.

Curry especially needed another rider. He approached this Game 7 differently than the last one. In Sacramento in 2023, he told the team to get on his back. He went after the Kings himself, putting up 38 shots in his 50-point epic. This game, though, his attack was much more subtle. The plan was to beat Houston with stability instead of explosiveness, to methodically break down the Rockets with a mistake-free outing centered on little things.

He did his best not to force the action, to quiet the voice in his head that presses when he’s not getting looks. He was desperate to avoid turnovers and manipulate the defense with strong screens and forceful cuts off the ball. He was careful with passing out of traps and didn’t over-dribble. Curry sacrificed rhythm for patience. Control for trust.

But Brandin Podziemski couldn’t find his shot. Moses Moody wasn’t close on his five attempts. Quinten Post was replaced in the rotation by Kevon Looney. Steve Kerr even dusted off Jonathan Kuminga, but that wasn’t the answer.

The answer was, emphatically, Hield.

“I’m his real Robin,” Hield said, followed by a smile and a peer across the locker room at Butler.

The Warriors’ championship runs have always featured critical role players, several of whom were added in free agency. From Leandro Barbosa to David West to JaVale McGee to Otto Porter Jr., Kerr loves these types — guys who buy into the program while also bringing something uniquely them, who don’t allow limited opportunities to impact their readiness. Kerr knows their moment is coming, a time they’ll deliver. Their work behind the scenes, their authentic passion for the game, their consistency, it’s a clear sign they’ll be ready when needed, and the length of an NBA season guarantees they will be needed.

In Game 7, facing the infamy of another blown 3-1 lead, the Warriors needed somebody to deliver. And Hield, who sometimes can’t seem to buy a bucket, couldn’t miss. His spirit matched perfectly with the gravity of the moment.

In the final seconds, with the Warriors in celebration mode and the Rockets reeling, Hield found himself wide open again. The game was decided. The Warriors were advancing. But who knows when Hield will be this hot again, feel this good, matter this much. So he fired up a 3-pointer, prompting VanVleet to frustratingly shove Hield to the ground. Of course, it went in. Because this was Hield’s moment.