Ohm Youngmisukmay 4, 2025, 11:19pm
Closeohm Youngmisuk has been covering the Giants, Jets and NFL since 2006. Before that, he covered the Net, Knicks and NBA for nearly a decade. He worked for the New York Daily News for almost 12 years before joining ESPNNewyork.com and graduating from Michigan State University.
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Houston – Finally, after they beat the Houston Rockets for the fifth time in the playoffs in a decade, Stephen Curry spotted Draymond Green in a court celebration in the crowded Golden State, heading towards the Toyota Center scoreboard.
Curry and Green were talking about limiting the rocket to less than 90 points. With the help of Jimmy Butler III and a career night from Buddy Heald, the Warriors star duo both won their sixth Game 7 together, upsetting second-seeded Rocket 103-89 to advance to the Western Conference semi-finals.
Golden State will face Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center on Tuesday. The Warriors began winning tickets for that two round at a meeting of only emotional players that Green, Curry and Butler called at the team hotel shortly after the plane landed on Saturday.
Emotional Greene admitted to committing a terrible foul in just over three minutes of Game 6 and then “pumping” his “pumping” face.
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“Draymond established a tone at a team meeting last night,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Basically, he owned to lose his composure in Game 6 and I agreed with him. I thought a terrible foul was a tone setter, so he knew it, so he spoke to the group and said, “I’ll settle down, I’ll come here, come here tomorrow and do it.” And tonight, I think his emotional stability set a great tone from the start. ”
Green opened Game 7 by forcing Alperen Sengun to miss and then forced a travel violation. Green then scored the Warriors’ first five points and hit the second three pointer a few minutes later.
From there, Hield put together the historic first half. Hield scored 33 points after a 0-4 loss in the Warriors’ 115-107 Game 4 at Chase Center. His six three pointers in the first half set game seven records. He finished with nine triples and matched Don Tedi Vincenzo in most of the 3S in Game 7 history. According to ESPN research, Hield scored the most points after going scoreless in his previous games in NBA postseason history.
Hield said the night before he was inspired by a player-only story and was motivated.
“I thought his defense was incredible tonight again,” Kerr said. “One of the keys to the game was Fred Vanvriet had only two free throws. Fred destroyed the last three games. He had a great series. He completely turned things around with his play. Buddy did a great job with him.
Hield’s hot shooting helped the Warriors crack the defense of the Houston Zone that thwarted them in Game 6. Golden State took a 54-39 lead despite losing seven of their first eight shots off the field. He filled in three points until he filled in three points with three points.
RoundWinnerloser2025 1st rdwarriorsRockets2008 conf semispurshornets1994 conf finalsknickspacers1961 div finalshawkslakers– ESPN Research
Curry said his main focus on entering Game 7 was to protect the ball at all costs. His goal was to rotate five spins only once in Game 6. He finished with two turnovers, but in the fourth quarter he scored 14 of 22 points to beat the second Rocket with 10 rebounds and seven assists to score seven assists.
“It was one of the toughest defenses I’ve ever faced,” said Curry, who fought through the injured shooting thumb. “Their commitment to taking away the physicality that was permitted early in the series and all the patterns we normally thrive and protect me in half courtrooms. It was wild.
“But it was different to being just patient and still being offensive. Tonight I had only three points in the first half and five shots, but I’m trying to play right and soften.
Butler’s message to the team at the previous night’s meeting was to return to what he was doing his best. He breathes confidence into his teammates and gives him a breath of energy with his sw walking and calming play at the most tense moments.
“My message to my peers was that I wasn’t who I was,” Butler said. “In the sense that it’s throwing confidence into my peers. I think that’s part of my leadership that I’ve learned and gained as I’ve played this game at a high level.
“I wasn’t doing that in the first six games, so I wanted to let them know that I was going to show that everything was going well.
In his fifth career game, he finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, alongside Curry and Green. When Houston went within 63-60 in the second half of the third quarter, Butler filled in corner 3, which came out of Curry’s double team. Butler then slammed the green for a cut layup and floater, then pushed the lead to fourth place, 70-62.
Delivering so many playoff daggers against Houston in five playoff series, Curry opened the fourth in a driving layup after getting Armentompson and 3 to push the lead to 13.
“My message to my guys was that I wasn’t me, in the sense that I would bring confidence to my guys. …I wasn’t doing that in the first six games, so I wanted to let them know that I was going to show them everything was going well. Jimmy Butler said about the message to the warriors
Whenever Houston reached an impressive distance, Curry and Butler dodged them, while Greene made a victory defense on the other side.
Before Game 1, Curry told ESPN “I don’t know what chances I’ll actually have to chase the championship.” [Green] I have gone through all kinds of battles over the past 13 years. Obviously, we are trying to recreate that magic. ”
That magic is still alive after eliminating the Rockets again in the playoffs.
“We’re excited,” said Kerr, who was a very complementary to Houston coaches Ime Udoka and The Rockets. “When we go back to the trade deadlines we were teaming up with, as Steph says, we are proud to play meaningful basketball and give ourselves a chance.
“This is everything you want every year. Do you have a chance? And we have a chance in this group.”
