Caribbean Weather

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Hield misses game; ends second-longest active consecutive games streak

The Bahamas’ iron man in the National Basketball Association (NBA) Chavano “Buddy” Hield finally missed a game, sitting out the Sacramento Kings’ Monday night loss to the New Orleans Pelicans due to an undisclosed illness.

The Kings fell 117-110 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, dropping their seventh straight game and falling to a 22-32 win/loss record – 12th in the Western Conference of the NBA. Just the top 10 will have a shot of the playoffs with the seventh through 10th place teams playing in a play-in tournament for a shot to make the top eight. The Kings find themselves four games behind the 10th place Golden State Warriors (26-28). The Pels are 11th at 25-29.

As for Hield, he missed his first game in the NBA since November 2017 when he was sidelined for two games against the Portland Trail Blazers and the Denver Nuggets due to an ankle injury. Those are the only two games he has missed in his NBA career.

Going into Monday night’s game, he trailed just his former teammate with the Kings, Cory Joseph, as the NBA’s active leader in consecutive games played. Joseph still leads the way with 321 consecutive games played, splitting time between Sacramento and the Detroit Pistons this season. He was traded to the Pistons at the trade deadline.

Joseph has not missed a game since February 5, 2017, when he played for the Toronto Raptors.

Hield bowed out at 272 consecutive games played, missing a game on Monday night for the first time since November 20, 2017. The Sacramento Bee’s Jason Anderson is reporting that the illness isn’t COVID-19-related.

Hield appeared in all 82 regular season games as a rookie, and then appeared in an impressive 80 games the following season in 2017-18. After another full regular season in 2018-19, he then strung together 72 more outings for the Kings during the shortened 2019-20 season. Hield began the 2020-21 regular season with 53 appearances, starting in all 53 games.

The Bahamian sharp shooting guard is currently averaging 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, but is shooting a career-low 39.6 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from distance. For his five-year career, he is averaging 16 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.

Hield suffered a fractured foot in 2013 while in college at Oklahoma, but for the most part, has been healthy throughout his career.

The 28-year-old Bahamian is second in the league in three-pointers made this season with 213, trailing just two-time league Most Valuable Player (MVP) Stephen Curry of the Warriors. Curry has 224. The Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard is third on the list with 207 made three-pointers.

The Kings’ next game on the schedule is set for tonight when they face the Washington Wizards (20-33) on their home court at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. That game will get underway at 10 p.m.

As for the other Bahamian in the NBA, DeAndre Ayton, he and the Phoenix Suns (38-15) hosted the Miami Heat (28-25) at the Phoenix Suns Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, last night, but the result of that game was unavailable up to press time. The Suns are one of the hottest teams in the league, having won nine of their last 10 games. They are second in the west, just one and a half games behind the first-place Utah Jazz going into last night’s game.

Ayton is averaging 14.9 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists this season, and is at 16.3 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists over the course of his three-year career. He is shooting a career-high 61.7 percent from the field this year, and is ninth in the league in rebounding.

The two Bahamians are set to meet on Thursday as Ayton and the Suns host Hield and the Kings. That game will get underway at 10 p.m.

It remains to be seen if Hield will be ready to go.

The post Hield misses game; ends second-longest active consecutive games streak appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.



source https://thenassauguardian.com/hield-misses-game-ends-second-longest-active-consecutive-games-streak/

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