Buddy Hield hasn’t had the greatest debut season with the Golden State Warriors, but he has come up big in their last two playoff games against the Houston Rockets. Hield impressed as the Warriors beat the Rockets 109-106 in Game 4 at Chase Center on Monday, and head coach Steve Kerr hilariously roasted and praised him postgame.
“Hey fellas, I’m gonna utter some words that have never been spoken before by anybody on Earth,” Kerr said. “Buddy Hield, you set the tone defensively… I’m gonna say it again before the end of the playoffs. You can guard, and you did that tonight. Hell of a job.”
Kerr had given Hield his first start of these playoffs in Game 4, and he didn’t let his head coach down. The 32-year-old stole the ball from Jalen Green twice in the opening minutes of the game and helped set the tone defensively.
Hield finished Game 4 with 15 points (6-15 FG), four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. He struggled offensively in the first half (2 points on 1-5 shooting from the field) but came alive after halftime.
Hield had 10 points in the third quarter and helped turn a seven-point deficit at the start of the period into a two-point lead at the end of it. He then hit a huge three-pointer in the fourth quarter to put the Warriors up 102-101 with just over three minutes remaining. They would never trail again after that point.
So good was Hield in this game that even Jimmy Butler had no choice but to praise him in his press conference.
“I hate to give Buddy a compliment, so I’m not going to,” Butler stated. “But No. 7 on our team really brought the defensive mentality tonight, made some big shots, and he stinks. I just got to add that.”
Butler, who had 27 points (7-12 FG), five rebounds, six assists, and one block against the Rockets, couldn’t resist throwing a friendly jab at Hield at the end. The 35-year-old has been hilariously roasting Hield ever since he arrived via trade from the Miami Heat.
Hield had 17 points (6-13 FG), two rebounds, two assists, and three steals to help the Warriors win Game 3 in Butler’s absence. That still wasn’t enough to earn some praise from the six-time All-Star, though. Butler trolled Hield on Instagram by thanking everyone on the Warriors except him after Game 3. He had to give him his flowers this time, though.
“Felt nice, might take down later.”
Butler doesn’t want Hield to get carried away, however. In recent weeks, the former Heat star has called Stephen Curry Batman and himself Robin. So, after Game 3, Hield called himself Alfred, but Butler made it clear postgame that he does not deserve that moniker.
“No, no,” Butler said. “Buddy is not in this! Buddy’s the Joker or something, he’s the evil man!”
These two have a great dynamic, as does most of the team. The Warriors are very much trending upward at this point and are now up 3-1 in this series. They’ll look to knock out the Rockets and advance to the next round when the teams face off in Game 5 at Toyota Center on Wednesday at 7:30 PM ET.
