Bahamian professional basketball players Chavano “Buddy” Hield and DeAndre Ayton’s road to the playoffs is now clearer after the National Basketball Association (NBA) officially released the schedule to restart the 2019-2020 season on Friday night.
Both players will restart their season on Friday, July 31. Ayton and the Phoenix Suns will be restarting their season first when they take on the Washington Wizards at 4 p.m. Hield and the Sacramento Kings will be in action later that day when they make a return against the San Antonio Spurs at 8 p.m.
The NBA has decided to resume the season on July 30 with two nationally televised games on TNT. Those two games are the Utah Jazz against the New Orleans Pelicans and the Los Angeles Clippers versus the Los Angeles Lakers.
Games will start daily from July 31 from as early as 1 p.m.
It will be a different situation for the 22 teams selected for the restart of the season. The restart will be at ESPN World Wide Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. All 22 teams will be housed on the Walt Disney property in a “bubble” with very strict guidelines to follow.
Both the Kings and Suns are on the outside of the eighth seed, looking to make the playoffs. With each team only playing eight regular season games, the road ahead is tough, but the window is still open for both of them to get into the top eight in the Western Conference of the NBA.
Ayton and the Suns face a Wizards team which is fighting to get the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference of the NBA. The Suns sport a 26-39 win/loss record on the season. It is their most wins since the 2014-2015 season. In November, the Wizards won the first matchup against those two teams, 140-132. Ayton was not in action in that game because he was serving a 25-game suspension for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA (National Basketball Players Association) Anti-Drug Program by testing positive for a diuretic.
It’s a game that both teams need to win as every game is vital in the reduced season format.
The Kings’ opener against the Spurs is also pivotal. The Spurs will look to extend its NBA record-tying 22-year streak of playoff appearances. Hield and the Kings won seven of their last 10 games and will look to build on that, but are currently in a 14-year drought as far as not advancing to the playoffs is concerned. It’s the longest drought in the NBA.
The regular season series between the Spurs and Kings were split 1-1 with the Kings winning the last outing when they met back in early February. The Kings won 122-102 with Hield dropping in 31 points and nailing nine three-pointers. The Spurs won the first game between the two, 105-104, in overtime, offsetting Hield’s 23 points.
The Kings’ remaining schedule features five games against teams that are already among the top eight seeds in their respective conferences and two against a team with a better record.
The Kings play the Orlando Magic (August 2), the Dallas Mavericks (August 4), the New Orleans Pelicans (August 6), the Brooklyn Nets (August 7), the Houston Rockets (August 9), the Pelicans (August 11) and end their regular season against the Los Angeles Lakers (August 13).
After the Suns play the Wizards, they will have a tough schedule ahead of them with a one-day rest between games except for one back-to-back. The remaining teams they will encounter have winning records and are already in the top eight seeds in their respective conferences.
The Suns’ remaining schedule shows games against the Mavericks (August 2), Los Angeles Clippers (August 4), the Indiana Pacers (August 6), the Miami Heat (August 8), the Oklahoma City Thunder (August 10), the Philadelphia 76ers (August 11) and the Mavericks (August 13).
The Bahamian duo has been brilliant for their respective teams when they were on the court this season, both averaging double figures in scoring.
Hield, who hails from Grand Bahama, is the second-leading scorer for the Kings at 19.8 points per game. Ayton, who is in his second year in the league, is averaging 19 points per game.
The Kings’ guard was on pace to break his franchise record of 278 three-pointers in a season that he set last year. He had 244 made three-pointers before this season was suspended, averaging 3.8 per game. If he remains on that pace, he will fall just shy of the record. He is ranked second behind Rockets’ guard James Harden in made three-pointers in the NBA this season. Harden has 271 made three-pointers.
The fourth-year guard was this year’s Mountain Dew NBA Three-Point Contest Champion during the NBA All-Star Weekend.
In his 30 games played, Ayton has been a monster on the glass, collecting12 rebounds per contest. He is averaging 1.7 blocks per game and shooting 54.8 percent from the field.
Teams are scheduled to arrive at Disney World from July 7 to 9 and training camps begin on July 9. They will be in training camp and play scrimmage games before the July 30 restart.
The post Hield, Ayton restart season on July 31 appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/06/29/hield-ayton-restart-season-on-july-31/
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