The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

The adjustment period to life in the NBA continues for Buddy Hield, but in the last two games he was finally able to show flashes of the player the New Orleans Pelicans thought they were getting with the sixth pick in the this year’s draft.

 Hield put together the best game of his young career with 18 points in the Pelicans’ 89-83 overtime loss to the Memphis Grizzlies at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee, on Wednesday night.

In 31 minutes, Hield shot 6-15 from the field, including 4-9 from three-point range and also added four rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block.

In the previous game, Hield reached the double-figure mark for the first time with 10 points in a 117-113 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks at home in the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

He offered some insight into his improvement. “Staying confident in who I am,” Hield said. “I knew it was going to come around, from last game. I started to feel a rhythm and felt comfortable and like myself. It was fun. But it sucks to lose. We’ve got to find a way to win.”

In the last three games, Hield has been more aggressive on the offensive end, with at least 10 field goal attempts in each contest.

He began the season with a slow opening week with just four points in his NBA debut against the Denver Nuggets and two points against the Golden State Warriors before an eight- point, five-rebound outing against the San Antonio Spurs.

Through five games he is playing nearly 20 minutes per contest with 8.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and one assist per game. He’s shooting just 32 per cent from the field and remains 21 per cent from three -point range.

Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry said that against the Grizzlies, Hield showed encouraging signs of the player he will eventually develop into.

“He still has a long way to go. He’s a young player trying to learn the league and what it’s all about. But tonight, there were glimpses of what I think we are going to be able to see,” he said. “He’s a real conscientious kid. We will sit down with him, watch tape and he will learn from the mistakes he made and some of the breakdowns that he had. I do think he did a good job.”

The game was tied 75-75 at the end of regulation as Anthony Davis’ last-second 26-footer banked off the backboard and then hit the rim before bouncing harmlessly away as the horn sounded.

JaMychal Green had tied the game for Memphis at 75 with 1:35 left on a 3-pointer.

The Grizzlies went on to outscore the Pelicans 14-8 in the overtime period.

At 0-5, the winless Pelicans are off to a slow start for the second consecutive season after an 0-6 start last year. New Orleans will return home to face the Phoenix Suns in their next game, set for 8:30pm Friday at the Smoothie King Center.