The Golden State Warriors advanced to the second round of the NBA Playoffs after beating the Houston Rockets 103-89 in Game 7.
Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler scored 22 and 20 points, respectively, but Buddy Hield stole the show with 33, including nine threes.
Even Draymond Green scored 16 as Steve Kerr’s team put in an excellent all-around performance to confirm the Semi-Final matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Kendrick Perkins reviewed the game soon after the final buzzer and praised Curry for doing something he’s not known for to secure the victory.
Everyone knows all about Curry’s shooting, playmaking, and ball-handling, but few discuss his play on the defensive end.
Well, that’s because it’s usually his only weakness, except in big moments like Sunday night’s Game 7 against the Rockets.
Perkins thought Curry was excellent in that regard as the Warriors held their opposition to less than 100 points.
It reminded him of the Warriors’ 2022 NBA Finals victory against the Boston Celtics, where he also supposedly played great defense.
Perkins explained: “When you look at Golden State and people think of Golden State, they think of offense because you have the greatest shooter that God has ever created. And you think about the Splash Brothers.
“They forget about the other side of the basketball and what they do on the defensive side of things, which helped them win championships. They lock down when they want to, especially Steph Curry.
“Tonight was one of those nights where, I’ll go back to the last championship against the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, he was sliding his feet and doing all the little things when he was struggling to score in the first half. That’s leadership.”
The consensus is that Curry is the driving force on offense and Green is the defensive leader on the Warriors.
That might be true, however, Curry arguably has more potential to inspire his teammates defensively for this reason.
See, when other players see a smaller, defensively-lacking superstar give their all to stop their opponents, it stands out more than when a Defensive Player of the Year candidate does.
Perkins thought that Curry’s efforts played a huge factor in Game 7 versus the Rockets. “All of a sudden, it was a ripple effect,” he said.
“We saw [Brandon] Podziemski, he was getting in there and getting dirty. We know what Draymond and Jimmy are going to bring to the table.
“All of a sudden, Buddy Hield comes up with a block. So, again, the defensive side of things was huge tonight for the Golden State Warriors, holding the Rockets to 89 points.”
