Bahamian professional basketball players Chavano “Buddy” Hield and DeAndre Ayton were in action over the weekend for their respective teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as the league’s preseason games got underway.
Hield scored a game-high 23 points in 23 minutes of play, but his Sacramento Kings fell 127-102 to the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, on Friday night. Ayton finished with a double-double that included a game-high 14 rebounds in a 119-105 loss for his Phoenix Suns to the Utah Jazz at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake, Utah, on Saturday night.
Kings’ guard Hield was able to finish 8-for-17 from the field, connecting on 5-of-11 three-pointers. He was perfect from the foul line, going 2-for-2. In addition, he had one assist and one steal in the loss.
Hield was in the starting lineup for the Kings. His first shot was a three-pointer that missed with 10:56 left in the first quarter. He made his next shot, a 25-foot three-point shot. That shot gave his team a 7-5 lead with 9:28 left in the quarter, and was his first of three three-pointers in the first quarter.
Hield’s final shot of the first quarter, another three-pointer, came with 3:52 remaining as he helped the Kings cut the Blazers’ deficit to 30-25. He was subbed out with 3:06 remaining in the first quarter. The quarter ended 41-36 in favor of the Blazers.
The Blazers led 72-62 heading into halftime. Hield already had four shots from behind the three-point line by halftime, and scored 16 points by the half.
Hield scored his remaining seven points in the third quarter before being subbed out for the rest of the game at the 5:40 mark of that quarter. The Blazers went into the fourth quarter with a 96-81 lead. There was no coming back from this as the Kings had key players on the bench and the Blazers went on to win the game easily.
The Kings shot just 36.8 percent from the field and the Blazers shot 51.1 percent. Most of the Kings’ shots were from deep – 50 out of 95.
Carmelo Anthony led the Blazers with 21 points.
The Kings returned to preseason action last night, again against the Blazers at the Moda Center, but the score was unavailable up to press time.
Ayton finished his game with 11 points in addition to his 14 rebounds, on 5-for-11 shooting. Looking to add the long-range shot to his arsenal, Ayton took two shots from deep but missed both. The center was able to grab 10 defensive rebounds and four offensive rebounds to go with his 11 points in 22 minutes of play. He added three assists.
The Suns did not utilize new additions Jae Crowder and Chris Paul.
Ayton won the opening tip and within 30 seconds, corralled his first rebound of the night. His first shot came with 8:46 remaining in the first quarter as he helped the Suns cut into the Jazz deficit, 9-7.
The 2018 first overall pick in the NBA Draft took his first break with 4:38 remaining in the first quarter. He already had six points, which came on jump shots and a close shot at the rim.
The Jazz led 33-26 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was pretty much the same as the Jazz took a 62-51 lead into the half.
After going scoreless in the second quarter, Ayton scored five points – a layup, a jumper and a free throw in the third quarter. The Suns trimmed the lead down to four as the Jazz led 87-83 at the end of the third quarter. Like Hield, Ayton was shut down in the third quarter, and the Jazz held on to win the game.
It was an even game for the most part. The Jazz buried seven more three-pointers than the Suns, 17-10, which could have been the difference maker in the game. The Jazz also finished with 14 fast break points to the Suns’ two.
Jordan Clarkson led the Suns with 19 points.
The two teams will face each other again tonight in a preseason matchup at the same arena. That game will get underway at 9 p.m. and will be aired on NBATV.
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/hield-ayton-get-preseason-underway/
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