What a difference 24 hours could make! Bahamian Chavano “Buddy” Hield found his stroke on Wednesday night and was the hero as the Sacramento Kings (24-35) avenged a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves (16-44) from the previous night. Hield connected on a go-ahead three-point shot with 8.8 seconds to help the Kings pull off a 128-125 home victory at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.
Hield finished with 29 points in this game on 11-for-16 shooting from the field including shooting an blistering 7-for-11 from deep. He also had six rebounds, five assists and one block in 38 minutes of play. The Bahamian sharp shooter had 21 of his 29 points in the first half.
This performance came a night after he struggled to get into double digits, scoring just 11 points the previous night against the Timberwolves. He went 3-for-11 in that game – all from behind the three-point arc. The game before that, on Sunday, Hield shot just 1-for-5 from the field and finished with a season-low two points against the Dallas Mavericks – his lowest output since a March 9, 2018 game against the Orlando Magic when he went scoreless.
The game on Wednesday night showed why he is one of the premier sharp shooters in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He can get streaky and become dangerous to opponents at any time. Kings’ Head Coach Luke Walton said Hield has the green light to shoot.
“It was good to see him shooting and making his shot tonight,” Walton said. “If there’s not a hand in front of him, he has the green light to let it go. That’s the type of shooter he is and that’s what we want him doing.”
It was a positive turnaround for the Kings on Wednesday night as they kept their composure in the fourth quarter. They outscored the Timberwolves 33-27 in the final quarter compared to the night before where they were outscored 35-17 in the fourth.
On the play where the Bahamian hit the late three-point shot, he was able to create some separation after losing Timberwolves’ point guard Ricky Rubio on a defensive switch. Hield got away from Rubio, who switched to ball handler Harrison Barnes, and quickly ran to the right elbow of the three-point line. He was open and drained a three-pointer on an assist from Barnes. He showed his quickness on that play.
After the Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns was unable to make a six-foot shot with 1.4 seconds left in the game, Hield’s backcourt partner De’Aaron Fox sank two free throws to extend their lead to three points.
Fox led the Kings with a game-high 30 points and added seven assists. Towns led the Timberwolves with 26 points.
Hield, the number six overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, connected on one of his three-point shots at the 3:59 mark during a 12-0 scoring run by the Kings that enabled them go up 117-115 with 2:41 remaining in the game. Towns went on to score a shot from deep with 51.7 seconds left in the game to give the Timberwolves a 125-121 lead. Fox hit a pair of free throws with 46.7 second left in the game cutting the Timberwolves’ lead to 125-123. Hield’s game-winning three-point shot was a dagger to the heart of the Timberwolves.
In the first quarter, Hield was perfect from the field, connecting on all five of his shots, including two three-pointers, two layups and a jump shot. He finished the quarter with 12 points and the Kings led 44-34 heading into the second quarter.
The seven made three-point shots for Hield takes his total to 232 for the season – second behind league leader Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors who has 262 made three-pointers. Hield is tied for second in the league in three-pointers per game at 4.0, again trailing Curry who is at 5.1. The Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard also connects on 4.0 three-pointers per game.
Earlier Wednesday night, Bahamian De’Andre Ayton had a quiet game in his Phoenix Suns’ victory over the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers (39-19). The Suns (42-16) won 116-113 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a near full court desperation heave from Sixers’ big man Joel Embiid bounced out at the buzzer, barely missing.
Ayton finished with 10 points and five rebounds in the win. He also had two steals and two blocks in 29 minutes of play. Ayton went 4-for-8 from the field and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. He had a slow start offensively as he was only able to score one basket – an alley-oop dunk – in the first quarter, tying the game at 23. The 76ers led 29-28 at the end of the first quarter. The game was close the rest of the way as no team led by double figures after the first quarter.
Ayton and the Suns visited the T.D. Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, to play the Boston Celtics (31-27) last night, but the score was unavailable up to press time.
Next up for Hield and the Kings will be a Sunday night game against the Warriors (29-30), which will take place at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California. Tip-off is set for 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) in The Bahamas.
The post Hield’s late trey helps Kings bounce back against the Wolves appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/hields-late-trey-helps-kings-bounce-back-against-the-wolves/
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