After snapping their nine-game losing streak on Sunday, the Sacramento Kings (23-35) ended up in the loss column again, falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves (16-43) on their home court at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. The Timberwolves won easily, 134-120, on Tuesday night.
Bahamian Chavano “Buddy” Hield, the starting two-guard of the Kings, struggled with his shot in the loss as he finished with just 11 points on 3-for-11 shooting, all from behind the three-point arc. He added four rebounds, two assists, one steal and a block in 30 minutes of play. This performance came after he shot 1-for-5 from the field on Sunday night against the Dallas Mavericks when he finished with just two points. He missed all four of his shots from deep in 23 minutes of play in that game.
This game saw little to no effective defense being played by either team as both scored over 70 points by the half.
All three of the Grand Bahamian’s made three-pointers came in the first quarter. His first made shot came at the 3:42 mark when he connected on a 25-foot shot to tie the ball game at 26 points. The three-point specialist made his next two three-pointers, the final one putting his team up 34-31 with 2:19 left in the first quarter. The Kings led 43-39 at the end of the first quarter.
After those three made three-pointers, Hield now has 225 made three-pointers on the season going into last night’s game – the second of a back-to-back against the Timberwolves. Hield is at number two in the league in made three-pointers. The Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry leads the league with 260 three-pointers. Portland Trail Blazers’ guard Damian Lillard is ranked third with 212 made shots from beyond the arc.
Fifth-year player Hield went cold after the first quarter. The Wolves shot 50 percent from the field in the second quarter while the Kings were at 41.7 percent. The game was tied at 74 at the end of the first half.
In the third quarter, Hield took three shots but came up short on all of his attempts. His team was still able to outscore the Timberwolves in that quarter as they used a 29-25 advantage to go into the final period up 103-99.
After going up 105-99 at the 11:42 mark of the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves went on a 8-0 run to take a 107-105 lead with 10:27 remaining in the game. The game kept slipping out of reach for Hield and the Kings as Karl-Anthony Towns made a three-point shot with 3:41 left in the game to put the Timberwolves up 126-115.
Hield’s tough night from the field included him missing both of his shot attempt from deep with less than four minutes remaining in the game. The Kings could not catch up with the Timberwolves as they were outscored 35-17 in the fourth.
Harrison Barnes scored 20 points to lead the Kings in scoring. Anthony Edwards led the way for the Timberwolves with 28 points.
The Kings sit in the 12th position in the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA) – six games behind 10th place San Antonio Spurs (28-28) who occupy the final spot for the play-in tournament.
The Timberwolves won the first meetings between themselves and the Kings this season. In the first meeting, the Timberwolves won 116-106 with Hield scoring 18 points and knocking down six three-pointers in the loss. The two teams met for a third and final time of the season last night in Sacramento, but the final result was unavailable up to press time.
Also in action last night was Bahamian DeAndre Ayton and his second seeded Phoenix Suns (42-15). Ayton and the Suns, second in the west, faced the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia 76ers (39-18), at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The result of that game was unavailable up to press time.
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/buddy-hield-kings-continue-to-struggle/
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