Buddy Hield Lights Up Game 7: Witness How Curry, Green, And Butler Fueled A Warrior's Fire

On a night that brought the Bay Area to its feet and silenced the Toyota Center crowd, Buddy Hield delivered the performance of his life, propelling the Golden State Warriors past the Houston Rockets in a decisive Game 7 showdown. The 103-89 victory wasn’t just about surviving and advancing; it was about resurrection, redemption, and resolve.

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It wasn’t just the 33 points, the nine threes, or the moment Golden State silenced the Toyota Center with an emotional, defiant roar, It was something deeper. Something older than a box score. On Sunday night, in a must-win Game 7, Buddy Hield became the heartbeat of a Warriors team that refused to die.

And behind that heartbeat? A quiet hotel meeting in Houston. Three men. One message.

“Yesterday, when we get to Houston, we had a very emotional meeting led by Draymond, Steph, and Jimmy. From then, I was just locked in. Just kept my spirit together … the meeting we had gave everybody chills,” Buddy Hield said after the Warriors stunned the Houston Rockets 103–89. “When we go to the Finals, we know that means—and the meeting was well needed.”

This was the part of the conversation between Buddy Hield to Charles Barkley and the crew of Inside the NBA show after the Warriors won Game 7.

Hield was expressing his emotions about how the vocal leaders of the Warriors, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler, ignited the team before the game.

Buddy Hield Breaks Out in Game 7 Glory

No one expected Buddy Hield to be the key to the Warriors-Rockets playoff showdown. Just a few games ago, he had lost his starting spot to Gary Payton II. But in the most important game of the season, when Payton went down, Hield rose.

The Rockets threw a double-big lineup at Golden State, deploying Steven Adams and Alperen Sengun to clog the paint. But Hield made them pay from the perimeter. He dropped 22 points in the first half alone—including a second-quarter surge of 14 points- and finished the game as the top scorer. His nine triples matched Donte DiVincenzo‘s record for most made threes in a game 7.

“On a day when the defense was focused on Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler,” one of the reports of Yahoo Sports stated, “Hield reminded the Rockets that he’s currently the second-best shooter in the league.”

His barrage from beyond the arc cracked Houston’s zone, giving the Warriors a commanding 54-39 halftime lead.

“I thought his defense was tremendous tonight, too,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was effusive in his praise. “Fred VanVleet only got two free throws…. Buddy did a great job on him. This wasn’t just a lights-out shooting performance—it was a two-way performance.”

In total, Hield poured in 33 points. For a guy averaging just 10.9 points per game during the postseason, it was a thunderclap. A resurrection.

This was Buddy Hield’s first real playoff moment. Last year, he was swept with the 76ers. This year, he’s the unlikely savior of a Warriors dynasty fighting for its last breath.

And he never forgot what lit that fire.

“The meeting we had gave everybody chills,” Hield repeated. “When we go to the Finals, we know what that means.”

The Players-Only Meeting That Changed Everything

The spark that ignited Buddy Hield’s fire came not from the scoreboard, but from a hotel conference room the night before. Following their Game 6 loss, the locker room simmered with doubt, That’s when Draymond Green, Stephen Curry, and Jimmy Butler stepped in and called an emotional players-only meeting.

A players-only meeting at the team hotel in Houston. No reporters. No cameras. Just pain, accountability, and a demand for answers.

Green, candid in his reflection, admitted to losing his composure in Game 6.

Coach Kerr later joined the meeting, pleased that Green had addressed issues he had planned to bring up. “Draymond set the tone,” he said. “He owned up to losing his poise in Game 6. Said, ‘I got to be better… we’re going to come in here tomorrow and get it done.”

Butler, playing in his fifth career Game 7 but first alongside Curry and Green, looked around and realized what was missing.

Jimmy Butler’s message was just as crucial. “My message was I wasn’t being who I was,” he said. “I think that’s a part of my leadership. I wasn’t doing that for the first six games… so I let them know it’s going to be fine. I got back to being who I’m supposed to be.”

And it worked.

Butler returned to his leadership form in Game 7, finishing with 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. He buried a key corner three when Houston cut the lead to 63-60 and then followed it up with a dime to Green and a floater to close the quarter at 70-62.

Before Game 1, Curry admitted to ESPN, “I don’t know how many more chances we’ll have.”

And for a moment in this series, it looked like the window had finally shut. But the 13-year partnership between Curry and Green found one more surge.

As Curry pointed out before Game 1: “Me and [Green] have been through every battle for the last 13 years. Obviously, we are trying to recreate that magic.”

Green opened Game 7 by forcing a miss, drawing a travel on Alperen Sengun, and scoring the team’s first five points. He drained two threes and led a first-quarter charge that Houston never truly recovered from.

“His emotional stability tonight, just his poise from the start, set a great tone,” Kerr noted.

Curry, meanwhile, struggled early. Just three points in the first half. But when the Rockets closed to 63–60, Curry found his pulse.

A 3 over Thompson. A driving layup. Then another deep three. By night’s end, scoring 14 of his 22 points in the fourth along with 10 rebounds and 7 assists, with just two turnovers.

Amen Thompson tried to slow Curry in the fourth but got buried by a deep three that pushed Golden State’s lead to 13, silencing the crowd.

“That was one of the toughest defenses I’ve ever faced,” Curry admitted, battling an injured shooting thumb. “The physicality, the half-court pressure… It was wild. But you stay patient and eventually you make your presence felt.”

Jimmy Butler didn’t need to score 40. He just needed to remind everyone who he was.

When the Rockets cut the lead to three, it was Butler—calm and collected—who buried a corner three, fed Green for a layup, then floated one in to restore the cushion.

“I wanted to make sure they knew I was going to show everything was going to be fine,” Butler said. “I think I got back to being who I’m supposed to be.”

He finished with 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. Quiet numbers. Loud impact.

Houston’s Fall: Rockets Stunned Again

The victory advances Golden State to the Western Conference Semifinals, where they’ll face Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves. This marks the fifth time in a decade the Houston Rockets have been eliminated by the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Playoffs. And it hurt.

They brought size with Steven Adams and Alperen Sengun. They limited Curry early. But they couldn’t stop Buddy Hield’s flurry.

And when Fred VanVleet, who torched the Warriors all series, managed just two free throws, Ime Udoka could only watch as the game slipped away.

“We’re thrilled,” Steve Kerr said afterward. “When I think back to the trade deadline, where we were… I’m so proud of these guys.”

Next up? A brutal second-round clash with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

It’ll be Stephen Curry vs. Anthony Edwards—a matchup years in the making. Edwards, who’s already outdueled LeBron James and Kevin Durant in earlier playoff rounds, is looking to complete the trifecta.

“Anthony Edwards watched LeBron, KD, and Steph in the Olympics,” Paul Pierce claimed. “And he learned how to beat them.”

He’s done it to two. Can he do it to the third?

If this is the last run for this Golden State Warriors core—if Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler never wear the same jersey again—then this was the way to go out. With guts. With a little help from a forgotten shooter named Buddy Hield.

As the Warriors head to Minnesota, one thing is clear.

They still believe.

“Do you have a chance?” Kerr said. “And we’ve got a chance with this group.”