With the Warriors’ season on the line, Buddy Hield turned into the unlikeliest of heroes during Sunday’s Game 7 Rockets clash. Playing the best basketball of his brief playoffs career, he dropped 33 points to lead his team to the next round. So, everyone expected Steve Kerr to place his bets on Hield once again as they headed into tonight’s West semis opener against the Wolves. And he did. However, the decision immediately backfired in the most unusual way as Buddy’s carelessness cost the Warriors a timeout.

Well, the head coach put Buddy in the starting lineup, expecting the same impact he had on Sunday. For a few seconds, the game progressed as usual. Then, the Wolves’ bench noticed something strange. Turns out, Hield was wearing black and blue shorts, unlike the rest of the starters’ black and yellow ones. The Minnesota team immediately pointed out to the officials that the sharpshooter had the wrong shorts on. Buddy could do nothing but smile at his hilarious mistake.

The game was stopped, and Buddy rushed to the locker room to switch to the official team gear. Unfortunately, he took a little bit too long to return to the floor. In the meantime, Gary Payton II was brought back from the tunnel, and the officials penalized the Warriors for causing a delay of the game. Hence, charging them with a timeout less than a minute into tip-off.

Even the on-air announcers highlighted the bizarre incident on Live TV, “So here’s what you missed with Buddy Hield. It was the Wolves bench who pointed that out, knowing that that’s not allowed. And got hit with a delay of game, and Buddy Hield had to go change his shorts.” They also stated that they had never seen something like this before. Although it’s a common mistake at High School and AAU levels, it rarely happens in the NBA. However, Buddy returned after a few minutes, this time in the right uniform, and made up for his careless mistake.

Buddy Hield rescues the Warriors in Game 1 amid major Stephen Curry setback

Following the brief delay caused by Hield’s wardrobe malfunction, the Warriors were back on track. They started hot and gained an early lead over the Wolves. But they were struck by a major tragedy in the second quarter when Stephen Curry was forced to leave the game with a hamstring injury. It was later revealed that he was done for the night, diagnosed with a hamstring strain. He left with 13 points in thirteen minutes.

Following Curry’s departure, many expected the Warriors to lose their edge. Buddy Hield, however, had other plans. Just like Sunday’s game, the sharpshooter carried the scoring load on his shoulders, finishing with a team-high 24 points and eight rebounds. He hit five three-pointers, proving once again why he is Steph’s Splash Buddy.

With Hield taking over, Butler and Draymond also joined the party, combining for 38 points. The Warriors ended up stealing one on the road with a dominant 11-point victory. Sure enough, this is a huge win for the Bay Area team because now, they have taken away the home-court advantage from the Wolves. More importantly, they did it without Steph, which is a massive confidence booster. And to think that it all started with Buddy wearing the wrong shorts to the game!