Buddy Hield is occasionally the greatest shooter alive

Good morning. The Warriors finally closed out the Rockets and the Pacers shut down the Cavalanche. Let's basketball.

A series that was physical and messy and sometimes ugly and defense-first and without flow ended with a Game 7 that was ... physical and messy and sometimes ugly and defense-first and without flow. There were two quarters that ended 23-19. There was first quarter Jonathan Kuminga and first quarter Kevon Looney. Alperen Sengun went 9/23 from the floor ... and two Rockets starters shot worse. There was like 40 combined minutes of zone defense. This was a dank basement slap fight between two of the strongest, ugliest dudes you've ever seen.

And then there was Buddy Hield, who had one of his random nights in which he appears to be the greatest shooter of all-time.

This is the norm with Buddy Hield: he'll go scoreless in 17 minutes on one night and hit nine threes in a Game 7 the next time out. Really: nine threes in 12 attempts, 33 points overall in 37 minutes (as well as some shockingly competent defense).

Buddy was the only offense the Warriors had going in the first half: he had 22 at the break and the rest of his team had a total of 29. Steph Curry had hit all of three buckets in the first three quarters. And yet, the Warriors went into the fourth up eight largely because of Buddy freaking Hield.

Oh, and the fact that the Houston Rockets could not find a single earthly way to crack the Warriors' zone.

Steve Kerr went full kitchen sink in Game 7. Hence the early minutes for Kuminga (who did not do anything good with them; now I wonder whether the Warriors even extend the qualifying offer or just let him become unrestricted) and the zone in reaction to the Rockets' once-potent double-big line-up. The Warriors are excellent defenders – even Buddy has stepped it up a notch, and Curry had a few stand-out possessions – but Houston was just totally stuck in mud. Sengun was patient to the point of being slow. Fred VanVleet was under consistent pressure but just couldn't get the oomph to turn a corner or make quicker passes. Jalen Green had his sixth offensive no-show of the series. (Hard to remember a more disastrous debut playoff series for a young star.) Steven Adams got pushed away from the rim. Jabari Smith Jr. nor Tari Eason got into useful flows. Dillon Brooks didn't have anything.

Amen Thompson, however, put together a string of jaw-dropping attacks starting at the very end of the second and through the third.