Warriors Credit Players-Only Meeting For Game 7 Win Over Rockets

The Golden State Warriors held a players-only meeting after arriving in Houston for Game 7 against the Rockets.

It was emotional, brutally honest, and invigorating. The meeting was led by Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler and Green started by holding himself accountable for picking up a flagrant foul late in a Game 6 loss.

After letting go of the rope in Game 5, it appeared as though the Warriors were going all-in on closing out the Rockets on their home floor. That didn’t materialize as Houston used tremendous defense and timely offense to force the series back home.

“Draymond set the tone last night at the team meeting,” head coach Steve Kerr, who joined the meeting later, said. “Basically, he owned up to losing his poise in Game 6, and I agreed with him. I thought the flagrant foul was a tone-setter, and he knew it. So, he talked to the group and said, ‘I got to be poised and I have to be better, and we’re going to come in here tomorrow and get it done.’

“I think his emotional stability tonight, just his poise from the start, set a great tone.”

Green was focused early, knocking down a pair of triples in the first quarter en route to 10 first quarter points. He battled hard against Alperen Sengun and orchestrated a tremendous overall defensive effort by the Warriors.

One of the goals Golden State set for Game 7 was to hold the Rockets under 90 points. They finished with 89.

Golden State now advances to face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round.

Butler’s Message Was To Be Himself

“My message to my guys was I wasn’t being who I was,” Butler said. “In a sense of pumping confidence into my guys. I think that’s a part of my leadership that I’ve learned and gained throughout my years of playing this game at a high level.

“I wasn’t doing that for the first six games, so I wanted to make sure to let them know that I was going to show everything was going to be fine. We’re right where we wanted to be and I think I got back to being who I’m supposed to be.”

Butler finished the game with 20 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. He hit some really timely shots when the shot clock was winding down and was huge in closing out the game.

He now gets to face his former team.

Buddy Hield Takes Inspiration From Meeting

No player seemed more inspired in Game 7 than Buddy Hield.

The sharpshooter tied a Game 7 record with nine three-pointers and finished with 33 points. With Curry getting hounded every time he touched the ball, he was only able to manage three points in the first half. It made Hield’s contributions all the more valuable, as six of his nine three-pointers came in the first half.

One of them was a 42-foot buzzer-beater to end the first quarter.

Hield was also tasked with defending Fred VanVleet, who had caught fire from beyond the arc over the last few games.

“I thought his defense was tremendous tonight, too,” Kerr said. “One of the keys to the game was Fred VanVleet only got two free throws. Fred has just destroyed us the last three games. He’s had an amazing series. He completely flipped things with his play. Buddy did a great job on him.

“So, this was not just a lights-out shooting performance for Buddy, it was a two-way performance.”