NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: TIMBERWOLVES VS WARRIORS

May 10, 2025

Buddy Hield

Golden State Warriors

Game 3 - Postgame Media Conference

Minnesota Timberwolves 102, Golden State Warriors 97

Q. Eventually some threes started falling. What were the challenges in the first half when you guys went 0-for-5? Like the opportunities to take three weren't even coming?

BUDDY HIELD: You look in the two games before that we were not as able to get threes. Only person to get threes up was probably Steph, and when Steph is not there, they are gravitating to me, just got to find a way to get some up.

You don't want to be forceful out there and take the energy of your team and take bad shots. And everybody is like, we got to get threes up, but you've got to stick to the energy of the game and the flow of the game. I think the flow of the game let us have a two-point lead coming into halftime.

But yeah, I think that as the pace picked up, the stakes starting to come closer, I was able to get three. Just weather the storm. I got up seven in the first half and made four. Hopefully, make two more, might have a chance to win the game.

Q. Do you see anything right now hampering Pods' shots or with the spacing different, do you think that's impacting him?

BUDDY HIELD: No, to be honest with you, BP is one of the guys that's free out there, and they are letting him play basketball. But all in all, you know, he's a second-year guy and first playoff experience. He's going to go through ups and downs. But fun challenge.

Of course he's going to be hard on himself. He's a hard worker. Every time I come to the gym, he's always here working here working hard. I just told him after the game, next shot, best shot. You can't worry about it, live in the now. BP is going to come around for us. Just got to trust it.

Q. How would you describe the way Kuminga played tonight?

BUDDY HIELD: Elite. Elite. We know what he's capable of. So happy for him to see him be aggressive and play basketball without second guessing himself and like he said in the last interview, he feels like he got his confidence back and his feet are under him. He did a great job tonight.

Q. Following up on that, you're one of the guys who we know has brought joy to this team both on and off the court. Is there any message that you've been telling JK behind the scenes to just keep his confidence up?

BUDDY HIELD: It's not only me. It's everybody. Just opportunity, man. When it comes, he's a guy that works so hard. I don't know of anybody that works as hard as JK. He's always in the gym. He comes in, prepares himself and he's worked his butt off. He stayed ready. He's a true professional, and that's why he's helping us out in the game here and I hope that everybody is watching and seeing what he's capable of.

Q. You're known to talk to Jimmy some, have a pulse on him. What did you think just being around him in this game? Did he have a super high energy level before the game?

BUDDY HIELD: He's good. He had 33 tonight. He willed us all game. He willed us all game. We are going to have to do it again for Game 4. He's doing all he can do, man and we just got to be ready to buckle down and give him some moral support, myself, everybody, BP is locking in. The role players need to help Jimmy out some more so that we can tie this up and go back to Minnesota.

Q. Steve has talked about having the formula with Steph and now it has to change. Do you think you have a new formula tonight? Do you think this can carry over to the next game?

BUDDY HIELD: You know, we had the game front of us. I don't know, the six-minute mark, we were up by three or four or five and it got a way front of us. We have to protect the basketball and just weather the storm and just give the ball to Jimmy and let him figure it out for us.

Q. How has it been with Steph supporting the team off the court, and do you feel any pressure to cover?

BUDDY HIELD: Nobody covers Steph Curry. There's no pressure. If you coming in thinking there's pressure, like you've got to fill his role you're crazy, because he does so much for this team. Trust me, everybody would like to do it but he's touched by an angel, you know. He's touched by God. He's blessed.

But he's Steph Curry, man, he's always supportive, always there talking to God. I'm always asking questions, when you see this play, how can I get open and just reading stuff. I think just talking to him in the second half in second half in halftime, I was able to get shots off in the second half. Just reading the defense, like I'm getting the "Steph rules" right now. I told him, I see what you go through.

But it's fun. That's why it's a seven game series. It's always a challenge, and you've got to overcome these challenges. That's the best thing about this. We got Mother's Day tomorrow and after that Monday to show the world what we can do.

Q. How does the margin for error change defensively when Draymond is not on the floor?

BUDDY HIELD: That's a tough call. That's a tough call. I feel like everything didn't go our way tonight that we thought would go our way. There was an offensive foul. I just don't understand the rules.

Draymond is a well-known defensive player -- I've seen guys referee challenges, it went automatic. They don't take that long. I feel like they were debating it too long on the challenge and reviewing it and going over time and trying to figure out what's the right call.

I just know that everything just didn't go our way today and that's how the game is. We don't want no excuses. We don't want nobody to feel sorry for us but nobody went his way today, picking up a foul on McDaniels. We didn't get calls. Jimmy got fouled a couple times at the rim. It is what it is. That's the fun part about it. Just got to figure it out, and we're down 2-1, we just got to weather the storm.

Q. When you talk about getting the "Steph rules" right now, what is that like? I know you see him go through but what is it like to go through it yourself? How difficult is that?

BUDDY HIELD: It's tough. But it's a challenge. You've got to be patient, man, and like a shooter, you're never patient. You're always trying to outgun somebody or always trying to find the best shot possible.

But I know in the playoffs, you've got to find the best shot possible. Sometimes to have to take some crazy ones and you might take the crazy ones but you need to find that spark to get your team going. Everybody knows that. You can feel the crowd knows that we get threes up, but to be able to sustain it over this gap.

Man, it's a fun challenge every day. And they are a tough defensive group, and just can't wait for Monday.

Q. When you say "weather the storm," do you take things out of this game that make you feel optimistic about Monday?

BUDDY HIELD: Yeah, that's why the series you learn, how can you adjust? They won two in a row. I feel like it's a game we should have won tonight. But we didn't win it.

But you've just got to go to the drawing board and figure out what in that spurt where we lost it, and how we can learn and go from there.

Q. Anthony Edwards is an elite talent, but what more can be done to show him down?

BUDDY HIELD: He's going to get a lot of volume of shots up. He was 13 for 28, as expected. We've got to try to limit him, less touches. Don't give him the easy ones. Got a couple loose ball plays, didn't went our way he got a couple threes off, a couple stick hands. Just keep him from going down him. Try to stay in front of him as much as we can.

Q. From Game 7 to taking Game 1 on the road and two straight loss, how do you deal with the back-and-forth as far as from insane happy to a little bit of disappointment? How do you deal with that?

BUDDY HIELD: I mean, this is the NBA, man. You can't get too high, you can't get too low. You enjoy them when you can but it's on to the next.

Game 7, you win that, we couldn't even enjoy because we were trying to watch film on Minnesota and one day off and next day playing. NBA, you can't get too happy. You can't be complacent. Like we haven't won anything. We moved to the next round but nothing has been won.

Our goal is try to win the Championship, and our goal is to try to weather the storm as we can when we get 30 back because we know how elite we are him. But I know we can beat these guys without him, too. Ready for Monday. Get to the drawing board and let's get it.