SAN FRANCISCO – With Jimmy Butler unavailable to play Saturday and sitting courtside wearing a thick brown coat, the Warriors were desperate to find someone to step up and help fill the void.
Buddy Hield answered the call with his most productive game in nearly three weeks.
The veteran sharp-shooter came off the bench and scored 17 points, three shy of his career postseason best, to go with a game-high three steals and two assists in the Warriors’ 104-93 Game 3 win over the Houston Rockets at Chase Center.
“Robin was out tonight, so I had to step up,” Hield said, referencing the Batman-Robin duo of Stephen Curry and Butler. “I know Jimmy is out and I know what’s at stake. Just taking it possession by possession, learning.
“You’ve got to enjoy the moment and seize the moment. You can’t be shy when the opportunity comes. You have to be out there and be fiery and be free.”
Hield is anything but shy, especially on the court.
Heading into Saturday’s game he was second on the Warriors for made 3-pointers behind – surprise – Curry.
Hield is 16th on the NBA’s all-time list, although his numbers have rocketed in recent seasons. Over the past six years, Hield has made the second-most 3-pointers (1,254) in the NBA behind Curry (1,563).
Against the Rockets, Hield made 5 of 11 3-point tries and shot 6 of 13 overall.
When the Warriors fell behind by double digits midway through the second quarter, Hield got Golden State back in the game with a pair of threes and a driving layup that helped cut Houston’s lead to 49-46 at the break.
Because Butler was resting after suffering a hard fall earlier in the series, Houston spent much of the night blitzing their defense toward Curry. That left open spacing for the other Warriors players, and Hield made the Rockets pay.
“If they are going to send a trap or double-team or blitz a pick-and-roll, if I get off it [and] if we are spaced properly, Buddy is a guy that demands attention,” Curry explained. “If he has that little bit of daylight, he’s got to be able to take those and knock them down.”
The Warriors signed Hield in the offseason in essence to help make up for the loss of Klay Thompson after the one-time Splash Brother was traded to the Dallas Mavericks this past offseason.
Replacing one of the most popular players in franchise history is no easy task for any player, especially when the player being replaced is as beloved in the Bay as Thompson was.
Hield’s first season with Golden State started off optimistically. When he ran into a midseason shooting slump, some fans wondered whether the Warriors made a mistake by obtaining Hield as part of the multi-team sign-and-trade that landed Thompson with the Mavericks.
More games like Saturday’s are surely to alter a few of those pessimistic opinions.
“He’s a guy who is one of the best shooters in the league,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He’s always capable of making shots. Because of the constant blitzing of Steph, it opened up the floor and we finally figured it out, how to space the floor and get the ball in that blitz. [Hield] got some good looks and made some big shots.”
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