Warriors’ Buddy Hield Baffled By Refs After Game 3 Loss to Timberwolves

Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield talks to the press after Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield talks to the press after Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. / Via KNBR on

Buddy Hield wasn't a fan of the officiating Saturday night in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.

The Golden State Warriors fell 102-97 to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Hield was not happy afterwards.

During his postgame press conference, he expressed frustration with how the game was officiated.

"Everything didn't go our way tonight that we thought would go our way," Hield said "I just don't understand the rules. Draymond is an all-world defensive player, and if a guy puts his forearm in your chest... It's automatic. They don't take that long."

"Nothing went (Draymond's) way today," he continued. " We didn't get calls we were supposed to get. Jimmy got fouled a couple times at the rim... It is what it is, man."

While there certainly were controversial calls in Game 3, in the end both teams shot 21 free throws, and the Warriors were only called for 24 fouls, while Minnesota was hit with 23. So there wasn't much of a disparity.

With Stephen Curry sidelined, Golden State led by five in the fourth quarter but couldn't close the game out. Green fouled out of the game with 4:38 left, which really impacted the team's chance to finish it out with a win.

The Timberwolves lead the series 2-1.


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Ryan Phillips
RYAN PHILLIPS

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.