Unlikely Golden State Warriors player did ‘his best Stephen Curry impression’ in Game 1, and it wasn’t Buddy Hield

Yet, the Warriors still won by 11 points as several players stepped up in his absence, including shooting guard Buddy Hield.

Hield made five threes from eight attempts at the Target Center, yet one of his teammates supposedly did an “impression” of Curry.

ESPN expert says Golden State Warriors star played like Stephen Curry

While most people would assume Hield played most similarly to Curry in Game 1, ESPN pundit Chiney Ogwumike actually thinks Draymond Green did.

The Defensive Player of the Year candidate, who only averaged nine points in the regular season, scored 18 against the Timberwolves.

His three-point shooting, usually a weakness in his game, stood out the most to Ogwumike on Tuesday, May 6.

“We all knew that it was likely going to be the Draymond Green game defensively, but I did not have the Draymond Green game offensively on my bingo card,” she explained.

“He had 18 points, he knocked down four of five to start the game from three, he also had eight rebounds and six assists in 35 minutes.

“I did not know that Draymond was going to do his best Steph impression when Steph was out and only played 13 minutes.”

Chiney Ogwumike praises Buddy Hield for stepping up lately

While Green received the bulk of Ogwumike’s praise after Game 1, she also commended Hield for stepping up lately.

Hield stole the show in the recent Game 7 against the Houston Rockets, and followed it up well with 24 points versus the Timberwolves.

“You also have to give credit to Buddy Hield,” Ogwumike added. “In the last two games, he averaged 28.5 points, knocking down seven threes on average.

“So, they found shooters when the greatest shooter of all time was inside the locker room.”

Hield and Green cannot be expected to make nine threes between them every game, but they will need to continue producing more than usual on the offensive end while Curry is out.