Chavano ‘Buddy’ Hield and DeAndre Ayton were key contributors to their respective teams in ensuring it was a victorious outing for both of them in the National Basketball Association (NBA) on Monday night.
Ayton finished with a double-double, scoring 10 points and tying his season-high 17 rebounds for the Phoenix Suns (11-8) in a 109-108 nail-biter road victory over the Dallas Mavericks (8-13) at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
The win was the Suns’ third straight and second straight over the Mavericks in as many days. The Mavericks are reeling as it was their sixth straight loss.
Hield had a tough shooting night but ended the game in double figures with 16 points as his team, the Sacramento Kings (9-11), took down the New Orleans Pelicans (7-12), 118-109, at the Smoothie King Center, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
This was the Kings’ fourth win in five games with their only loss during this stretch coming against the Miami Heat on Saturday night – a 105-104 loss.
Suns’ center Ayton had a tough matchup going up against the Mavericks’ big man Kristaps Porzingis. He finished the night shooting 5-for-12 from the field, 41.7 percent, which is significantly below his season average of 56.9 percent. However, he made up for those numbers on the glass with his 17 boards that included six offensive rebounds to create second-chance points. He also finished with one assist and one block in 33 minutes of play.
The game was fiercely contested as it consisted of 17 lead changes and 15 ties. The home team held a lead of 11 points at one point, but the Suns battled back.
At the 1:52 mark of the fourth quarter, Mavericks’ guard Tim Hardaway Jr. hit a three-pointer to put his team up 104-102. Suns’ guard Chris Paul responded with a jump shot to tie the game at the 1:40 mark. Ayton committed a costly foul just after his teammate Devin Booker tied the game at 106. The Mavericks’ Josh Richardson made both free throws to give them a 108-106 lead with 57.7 seconds remaining.
With the Mavericks leading 108-106 with 23.7 seconds remaining in the game, Ayton grabbed his 15th rebound of the game. He picked up his 16th rebound on a Paul missed layup then missed a tip-in twice before a jump ball was called with 11.9 seconds remaining in the game.
The jump ball was tipped out of bounds by the Mavericks and the Suns got the ball back. Booker hit a three-pointer with 1.6 seconds remaining to give them a 109-108 lead. Mavericks’ guard Luka Dončić missed a potential game winning three-point shot as time expired.
Ayton, the 2018 first overall draft pick in the NBA, scored his team’s first four points of the game when he made a six-foot turnaround hook shot at the 10:41 mark of the first quarter, and had an and-one opportunity at the 10:08 mark when he was fouled on a driving layup. He missed the ensuing free throw and the Mavericks led 6-4. That layup was his third attempt early in the game as the Suns looked for him to be more involved early on after scoring 18 points against the Mavericks on Saturday night.
At the end of the first quarter, Ayton had six points and seven rebounds. The score was tied at 22 apiece at the end of the first quarter.
Ayton had a quiet second quarter and the Mavericks led 53-47 heading into the half. The Mavericks held on to the lead going into the fourth quarter. They were up 82-77 at the end of three.
Paul finished with a game-high 34 points for the Suns. Dončić scored 25 points in the loss.
For the Kings in their victory over the Pelicans, Hield finished shooting 4-for-16 from the field. He missed 11 three-pointers and was just 4-for-15 from deep. He also had eight rebounds and three assists in 39 minutes on the floor.
This game had 20 lead changes and 11 ties. The Kings turned up their offense to another level in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Pelicans, the team that drafted Hield in 2016, 31-15.
The Grand Bahamian’s only made three-pointer in the fourth quarter was at the 10:10 mark. It was a part of a 16-3 scoring run that ended with the Kings up 101-100 with 7:07 remaining in the game. The Kings’ De’Aaron Fox carried them down the stretch.
Former Oklahoma University Sooners’ star guard Hield first made basket of the game was a three-pointer at the 10:08 mark of the first quarter when he helped the Kings break a 5-5 deadlock to put his team up 8-5. He missed his other three attempts in the first quarter and the Pelicans led 33-30 at the end of one.
Fox led the way for the Kings with 38 points. Pelicans’ forward Brandon Ingraham led them with 20 points.
The Kings return to action tonight with a home game against the Boston Celtics at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. The game gets underway at 10 p.m.
Ayton and the Suns also return to the court tonight when they head to New Orleans to play the Pelicans. The game is set to get underway at 9.30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN.
The post Ayton, Hield pick up wins in NBA action appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
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