Warriors Outlast Rockets in 7 games

Stephen Curry was kept quiet in the first half. It didn’t stay that way.

Curry ended with 22, adding to Buddy Hield’s team-leading 33-point effort as the Golden State Warriors outlasted the young, upstart Houston Rockets. Golden State moves on to face Minnesota in round 2. 

This Warriors team altered its 2025 playoff destiny when it traded for Jimmy Butler and extended him for two years. Once that trade was made, the Warriors’ trajectory changed. While they were a 7-seed on paper, they were only four games behind Houston on the year, and they had been playing at an even better clip with Butler on the squad. 

But you would’ve imagined Butler or Curry saving them in a hostile game 7, yet it was Hield, having the biggest game of his life at that moment, when Curry was getting doubled all over the court, keeping the Warriors afloat.

Golden State will be another physical series with Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves next. While Houston has a higher defensive ceiling, their Achilles heel in this series was a lack of a consistent scoring option. (89 points in Game 7 at home will never cut it.) Minnesota has a scoring option you all might have heard of. Anthony Edwards is licking his chops at the chance to take out LeBron, then Steph in the same playoff run.

Pacers defeat Cavs, steal Game 1

Indiana shot 53% from 3PT range, Cleveland hit an uncharacteristic 23%, and the Pacers stole game 1 in Cleveland. The Cavs sorely missed Darius Garland; they needed him to create on the offensive end. 

Mitchell was asked to do almost everything without him in that department, but the Cavs’ shooters did not step up enough. Give credit to the Pacers’ defense. They defended the perimeter well, especially on dribble drives. Mitchell, Mobley and Allen helped the Cavs rally and even take a slight lead in the late stages of this game, but Indiana’s shooting never slowed down, and they could outpace Cleveland. 

However, in a game like this, you expect the team shooting 30% more from 3-point land to control the game more. ESPECIALLY with the Cavs missing Garland, the Pacers NEEDED this game. But they can’t expect it to happen again. Even if they keep shooting at a high clip, the Cavs won’t shoot that poorly again this series. It’s going to be a fun chess match in the East.