After games, Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka enters the locker room with a pointed message to deliver. Sometimes, but not always, he shows his team clips of moments from the game he considers to be most impactful.

But mostly, Buddy Hield played the game of his professional life. Hield poured in six 3-pointers en route to 22 first-half points, accounting for nearly 50% of Golden State's offense through the first two quarters and what could only be described as a sigh-of-relief halftime margin.

The Houston Rockets turned a corner in the 2024-25 NBA season, as they made it back to the NBA Playoffs for the first time since 2020. But their return trip to the postseason lasted just seven games, with the Rockets ultimately failing to overcome a 3-1 series deficit in the first round against the Golden State Warriors.