By RENALDO DORSETT
Tribune Sports Reporter
rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
CHAVANO “Buddy” Hield concluded 2021 in a bit of a shooting slump but had a resurgent performance to lead his Sacramento Kings to win in his first game of 2022.
Hield had a game high 26 points for the Kings in their 115-113 win over the Miami Heat, January 2 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.
He went 9-18 from the field and made 7-14 from three-point range. The Kings have won three of their last four games and improved to 16-22 on the season, ranked No.10 in the Western Conference standings.
Hield scored in single digits in three of the last four games and shot 50 percent in just one appearance.
On December 26 he was 0-3 from the field and scored just two points in a 127-102 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
After a 21-point outing in a 117-111 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Hield scored just 11 points, shot a combined 4-12 from the field and 2-8 from three-point range in the Kings’ back-to-back against the Dallas Mavericks last week. In a December 29 win, Hield scored just three points on 1-5 shooting and followed with eight points on 3-7 shooting in a 112-96 loss.
“Teams play me differently and I just have to learn how to take advantage of it,” he said. “I was able to get a few good ones early, and find a rhythm quickly. Last couple games I haven’t really been able to get really good looks because teams have been keying in and locking on me. On nights like that I have to find my teammates, set a lot of back screens and just play basketball with rhythm.”
In Sunday’s win over the Heat, Hield also added six rebounds and three assists.
“Teams know what I can do so my job as a basketball player is to use the gravity I attract to get my teammates better shots.
“If my shots come they come, if they don’t they don’t I just have to stay ready, stay locked in, trust my work and work my tail off each and everyday,” Hield said.
“It’s always frustrating as a shooter when you can’t get the looks you want to get, but you have to be selfless and use your ability to get other teammates open.
“For me I have to get in more actions, get more easy twos, just doing things that I know I’m capable of doing.”
The Kings were just 5-11 in November and 7-8 in December, including a stretch where they lost seven of nine games.
“Last year is behind us and I have to come with an aggressive approach to each game,” Hield said.
“It’s been mixed. We win two games then we lose two games, I just think we have to be more consistent. If we just lock into our third quarters, once we can control the third quarter and stay in the game I think we stand a much better chance to win games. I think we put ourselves into such a deep hole in the third that we can’t make up ground in the fourth. We are a good team. I just think the third quarter has been our Achilles’ heel.”
In 38 games, with six starts, Hield is averaging 15.5 points per game but shooting just 39 percent from the field and 37 percent from three-point range. His field goal and three-point percentages are the lowest in his career since his rookie season.
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