After winning Games 5 and 6 in impressive fashion to tie up the series, the Houston Rockets were poised to become only the 14th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit, especially since they would be the home team for Game 7.
There have been 151 Game 7s in NBA history and the home team won 112 — a 74% mark.
But then Buddy Hield ($4,000; 51.75 FPTS) made the twine sing, “I ain’t your Buddy” to the home crowd, with trey after trey after trey, leading the Warriors to the 103-89 victory.
Hield finished with 33 points, three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal in 36 minutes. He shot 12-of-15 from the field and 9-of-11 from downtown.
In the first six games of the series, Hield received fewer than 18 minutes in four of the contests and averaged 7.2 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.5 treys in 20.8 minutes per game.
Stephen Curry ($9,400; 55.5 FPTS) was bottled up early, but he had a well-rounded game with 22 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and two steals.
Jimmy Butler ($8,400; 43 FPTS) had a quiet 20 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and a steal in 45 minutes while Draymond Green ($37.5 FPTS) contributed 16 points, six rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal.
Houston shot only 40.5% from the field while draining 6-of-18 from downtown. Golden State went 18-for-43 from beyond the arc.
Alperen Sengun ($9,200; 50.5 FPTS) led the Rockets with 21 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal, but it was Amen Thompson ($6,600; 43.75 FPTS) who was most impactful, single-handedly bringing the Rockets back from a first half deficit. Thompson finished with 24 points, nine rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal.
Jalen Green ($6,400; 16.5 FPTS) only played 30 minutes and finished with eight points, four rebounds, an assist and a block.
Fred VanVleet ($6,700; 34.25 FPTS) scored 29, 26 and 25 points in Games 4, 5 and 6, but he cooled off in Game 7, finishing with 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. The efficiency wasn’t bad, though, as he drained 6-of-13 from the field and 3-of-6 from downtown. VanVleet finished with 13 shot attempts in each of the last four games of the series.
