Hot night after an off-night

Bahamian Chavano “Buddy” Hield continues to have strong performances after woeful shooting nights.

Bouncing back from a poor shooting performance on Sunday, Hield turned it around as he caught fire on Monday, but this time it wasn’t enough as the Sacramento Kings fell convincingly to the Brooklyn Nets, 136-125, at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.

Hield connected on 7-for-13 shots from the field and 6-for-9 from distance to finish with 21 points on Monday. It was his best shooting performance for the year and fourth-best for the season. The previous night, he had one of his worst shooting nights of the season, going 2-for-10 from the field and 1-for-8 from distance to finish with just eight points.

Earlier this season, the Bahamian had an 87-game streak ended in which he had hit at least one three pointer, and the following day he bounced back with a 22-point performance against the Los Angeles Clippers, giving the Kings their fourth straight victory at that time.

The loss to the Nets on Monday was the Kings’ fourth straight, which came on the heels of them winning four straight and seven out of eight. They had crept back into playoff contention, but now have slipped to the 11th spot in the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA) with a 12-15 overall win/loss record.

As for Hield, the reigning NBA Three-Point Champion remains second in the league in three-pointers made with 106, trailing just Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.

The 28-year-old Bahamian sharp shooter is averaging a career-high 34.8 minutes per game, but is having his worst season shooting-wise since being traded to the Kings in 2017. For the first time in his five-year career, Hield is shooting less than 40 percent from the field and is also shooting a career-low 37.7 percent from distance.

Hield, who has started all 27 games for the Kings this season, is averaging 16.1 points per game – down from the 20.7 and 19.2 he turned in over the past two seasons in Sacramento. He is adding 4.8 rebounds and three assists per game.

On Sunday against the Nets, Hassan Whiteside led the Kings in scoring with 26 points on 12-for-15 shooting off the bench. Cory Joseph added 22 points and five assists, Hield scored 21 and added four assists and three rebounds. De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley II dropped in 19 points apiece for the Kings. Kyrie Irving paced the Nets, who were without Most Valuable Player (MVP) Kevin Durant, with 40 points, connecting on 15-for-22 from the field and a remarkable 9-for-11 from deep. James Harden had a huge triple double, adding 29 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds.

Hield and the Kings will play their next game on Thursday, hosting the Miami Heat at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. That game is set for a 10 p.m. start time on the west coast. Following that, they will go on a five-game east road trip, starting in Chicago on Saturday and ending in Detroit the following Friday.

Fellow Bahamian DeAndre Ayton and the Phoenix Suns were in action last night, hosting the Nets, but the result of that game was unavailable up to press time. They will travel to New Orleans, Louisiana, to take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday, and one day later, they will be in Memphis, Tennessee, to take on the Memphis Grizzlies.

Ayton, 22, has been a double-double machine this season, averaging 13.8 points and 12.3 rebounds for the rejuvenated Suns who are now fourth in the west with a 17-9 record up to last night.

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