NBA Game Notes (May 4, 2025)
Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on May 4, 2025.
Three Stars
The three stars in ice hockey are the three best players in a game, with the “first star” considered the best of the three players, similar to the player of the match in other sports. Here are my “three stars” from yesterday’s NBA games.
First ⭐️
Buddy Hield scored a game-high 33 points to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 103-89 victory over the Houston Rockets in Game 7 of their Western Conference First Round series. Hield shot a blistering 12-15 from the field, sinking nine of his 11 attempts from 3-point range. He also contributed three rebounds, three assists, a game-high two blocks (tied with three others), and one steal in 37 turnover-free minutes.
Second ⭐️
Tyrese Haliburton scored 22 points and dished out a game-high 13 assists as the Indiana Pacers defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 121-112 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals series. Haliburton went 9-15 from the floor, adding three rebounds, a game-high three blocks, and one steal. He committed just one turnover and one personal foul in 36 minutes of action.
Third ⭐️
Stephen Curry racked up 22 points, a team-high 10 rebounds, and a game-high seven assists (tied with Jimmy Butler III) in the Warriors’ win over the Rockets. Curry shot 8-16 from the field, including a 4-10 effort from 3-point range. He also recorded game highs of two steals (tied with Fred VanVleet) and two blocks (tied with three others) in 46 minutes played.
Milestones
Hield tied the NBA record for most 3-pointers made in a Game 7. Donte DiVincenzo was the first player to hit nine triples in a Game 7, achieving the feat May 19, 2024.
Hield is just the second player in NBA history to score at least 30 points on 80% shooting from the field in a Game 7. He joins Wilt Chamberlain, who accomplished the feat in Game 7 of the 1965 Eastern Division Finals.
Streaking
The Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell (33 points) has scored at least 30 points in eight straight series-opening games, snapping a tie with Michael Jordan for the longest such streak in NBA history. Mitchell has averaged 37.3 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 5.3 APG in those contests.
Curry has scored in double figures in 112 consecutive playoff games, breaking a tie with Hakeem Olajuwon for the eighth-longest such streak in NBA history.
Curry has made multiple 3-pointers in each of his last 21 playoff games, tying Ray Allen for the third-longest such streak in NBA history. Curry already owns the top two spots with streaks of 38 and 27 games.
The Rockets’ Fred VanVleet (3-6 on threes) had made at least one 3-pointer in 33 straight playoff games, breaking a tie with Chauncey Billups and Derrick White for the 10th-longest such streak in NBA history.
The Golden State Warriors (18-43 on threes) have made 10 or more 3-pointers in each of their last 21 playoff games, the longest such streak in franchise history and the fourth-longest such streak in NBA history.
Miscellany
Mitchell and Hield were the night’s leading scorers, netting 33 points apiece (a playoff career high for Hield). The Rockets’ Amen Thompson was next in line with 24 points.
The Rockets’ Alperen Sengun was the top board man last night, collecting 14 rebounds. Also recording double-digit boards were the Pacers’ Myles Turner (11), Curry (10), and the Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley (10).
Haliburton was the nightly leader in assists with 13. The Cavaliers’ Ty Jerome ranked second with eight dimes, while Curry and Jimmy Butler III shared third place with seven each.
The Western Conference’s second and third seeds – the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers, respectively – both lost in the first round. It’s just the third time that’s happened since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in 1984, the first such occurrence coming in 1987 (Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trail Blazers) and the second coming in 2023 (Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings). Interestingly, this has never happened in the Eastern Conference.