It all comes down to one game between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets on Sunday in Game 7 to decide who will move on to the second round. After the Warriors took three of the first four games, the Rockets dominated Games 5 and 6 to force a do-or-die game back at the Toyota Center in Houston.

Certainly, the series is tilting in favor of the Rockets. Their size has proved to be a huge problem for the much smaller Warriors. The younger, deeper Rockets are also wearing down the Warriors throughout games, and it is paying off in the fourth quarter.

Stephen Curry and Golden State have one thing going for them: experience. The Warriors have been in these spots before, and Curry laid out how that will help them get the win, via Sahil Kurup of Mirror US Sports.

“Just the confidence that no matter how it looks that we can get it done,” Curry said. “We need to be composed; we need to handle the emotions of the next 48 hours, not panic but have a sense of urgency on the adjustments that we need to make going into a Game 7, how to deal with a hostile environment. Had one in that building before. We know the crowd is gonna be into it.

“How we start the game is gonna matter, but it's gonna be a long 48 minutes, so stick with it.”

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Curry has played in five Game 7s before, winning three of them dating all the way back to 2014. He has brought his best basketball in those games, averaging 32.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game on efficient shooting splits.

The most recent win-or-go-home game that Curry played in was his 50-point masterpiece against the Sacramento Kings on the road in 2023.

The future Hall of Famer has even played a Game 7 in Houston. In the final game of the Western Conference Finals back in 2018, Curry dropped 27 points, nine rebounds, and 10 assists to help the Warriors get to the NBA Finals, which they eventually won.

That experience may be just enough to get Golden State over the hump against a very hungry but inexperienced Rockets group. If the Warriors want to advance, they will need Curry to be at his very best on Sunday night.