Curry, Hield lead Warriors past Rockets in Game 7

HOUSTON, May 6 ------ Stephen Curry scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, Buddy Hield made nine 3-pointers and scored 33 points, and the Golden State Warriors advanced to the Western Conference semifinals with a 103-89 win over the Houston Rockets in Game 7. The Warriors will face the Timberwolves Tuesday night (Wednesday PH time) in Minnesota.

Hield had a scorching first half with six 3-pointers and 22 points to carry the Warriors to a 12-point lead, with Curry scoring just three points before the break. Then Curry took over in the closing minutes and performed his signature “night night” gesture as the Warriors put the Rockets away. The Warriors became the seventh No. 7 seed in NBA history to advance to the semifinals and eliminated Houston in the playoffs for a fifth time. They sent the James Harden-led Rockets squads packing four times between 2015 and 2019. Hield was 9 of 11 from 3-point range, setting an NBA record for a Game 7 and making more 3s than the Rockets, who were 6 of 18 from long range. Curry added 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Amen Thompson scored 24 points to lead Houston, which forced Game 7 with two straight wins but couldn’t put away the experienced Warriors. Golden State led by eight entering 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 next six points, but the Warriors used a 7-2 spurt with four points from Curry to make it 82-70 with about seven minutes left. Curry made a contested 3, rebounded a missed jumper by Thompson and found Hield for an open corner 3 that made it 94-74 with 2:31 remaining. That sent many of the red-clad Rockets fans streaming for the exits.

Jimmy Butler added 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Warriors, who improved to 28-11 since his debut on Feb. 8 after a trade from Miami. Fred VanVleet scored a combined 55 points in the last two games to help Houston extend the series. But he was limited to 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting Sunday to send the second-seeded Rockets home early in their first trip to the playoffs since 2020.

Meanwhile, Tyrese Haliburton hardly resembled the player whose peers have deemed him overrated. The dynamic Indiana point guard scored 22 points — including a go-ahead 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter — had 13 assists and made crucial defensive plays that propelled the Pacers to a 121-112 victory over the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. “We’re definitely the heavy underdog, but we’re trying to control what we can,” said Haliburton, who was voted the NBA’s most overrated player in a recent anonymous player survey by The Athletic. “It gives us a lot of momentum for sure, but this is the best team in our conference. They don’t lose much.”

About the only thing Haliburton didn’t do well was shoot 3-pointers. On a night when the fourth-seeded Pacers were 19 of 36 from beyond the arc, Haliburton was 2 of 6. But the second one ended up being decisive. The Cavs went ahead 102-101 on a free throw by Max Strus before Haliburton’s 3 ignited a 15-4 run. Andrew Nembhard scored 23 points and made two of his five 3-pointers during the four-minute stretch when the Pacers pulled away.

Source: mb.com.ph