Hield mired in one of the worst shooting slumps of his career

Just a few weeks after setting another three-pointer milestone, Bahamian professional basketball player with the Sacramento Kings Chavano “Buddy” Hield is mired in one of the worst shooting slumps of his career.

The sharp shooting two guard has just three successful three-point shots in his last four games – one of his worst stretches of the his career. Hield is 3-for-23 from deep in those four games, shooting a dismal 13 percent from deep during that span. He also had a streak of 31 consecutive games of at least one made three-point shot, dating back to last season, snapped. That came last week Wednesday when he finished just 2-for-7 from the floor and 0-for-3 from distance. He scored just four points in 22 minutes of action, and it was the first time this season that Hield had back-to-back single digit scoring games.

Over the last four games, Hield is averaging just 8.25 points per game. For the season, he is at 15.9 points on 38.8 percent shooting from the field and 36.4 percent shooting from deep – both career lows.

Be that as it may, Hiled remains one of the most feared three-point shooters in the league. Just recently, he was the quickest to 1,000 made three-point shots in NBA history and also registered the most three-pointers made in the first 400 games of a player’s career in the history of the league.

Hield, who hails from Eight Mile Rock, Grand Bahama, remains second in the NBA in three-pointers made this season, trailing just Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors. Hield has 87 made three-pointers and remains on pace to break his single-season franchise record of 282 made three-pointers despite the recent slump.

The single-season franchise record of 282 three-pointers was established last season, breaking his own mark of 278 that was done during the 2018-2019 season. Hield now has the three most prolific shooting performances from three-point territory in franchise history (2018-2021), and just recently surpassed Peja Stojaković as the franchise record holder for total successful 

three-pointers. He did it with his 1,071st three-pointer in a Kings uniform, in a game against the Utah Jazz, about two and a half weeks ago. Stojaković had the previous franchise record of 1,070 made three-pointers for the Kings, and Hield is now up to 1,153 made three-pointers for the Kings. When added to the 89 he has with the New Orleans Pelicans, he has 1,242 for his career.

As for his recent slump, it’s his worst four-game stretch of three-point shooting since he went 1-for-14 to start his career five years ago. The good news for Hield and the Kings is that they have won two and lost during the stretch so it’s not a complete loss for them. After dropping games to the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers, they have won their last two games against the Los Angeles Clippers and have a 10-14 win/loss record – good enough for 11th in the Western Conference of the NBA. They are just a game out of the final play-in spot. The 10th spot is held by the Portland Trail Blazers (11-13).

This season, Hield has played the sixth man role for the Kings. He has started in just two of the 24 games for the Kings so far this season.

Despite the recent slump, Hield is shooting 66.7 percent on three-point shots when there’s a defender within two feet of him – the best clip in the NBA.

Hield will look to shake off those shooting woes when the Kings host the Orlando Magic at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, on Wednesday night. That game gets underway at 10 p.m.

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