The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

CHAVANO “Buddy” Hield has had his recent struggles from the field, but he hopes an efficient performance and game winner Wednesday night can turn his fortunes around.

Hield scored 29 points and his go ahead three pointer with 8.8 seconds left to play led the Sacramento Kings to a 128-125 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.

On April 18, Hield shot just 1-5 and had a season low five points against the Dallas Mavericks, followed by 11 points on 3-11 shooting in Tuesday’s matchup against the Timberwolves.

“I’m going to shoot the ball regardless and I’m going to be aggressive. I’ve been sucky in those types of moments, as a player, you want to be able to pull through for your teammates, this time I was able to make a shot. The percentages in those moments are bad but Harrison [Barnes] trusted me and I made a good play,” Hield said. “Throughout the year I haven’t really been myself on those game-ending plays, hopefully I can make a last push and figure it out when the game gets tight like that and make a play for my teammates. Just got to be confident and be willing to take those kinds of shots.”

Hield is scoring 16.6 points per game on 40.4 percent shooting from the field and 38.5 percent shooting from three-point range.

Those numbers represent Hield’s lowest shooting percentages since his rookie season when he shot 42 percent from the field and 39 percent from three.

Despite his struggles from the field, Hield has had his fair share of late-game heroics this season.

He tipped in a game-winning buzzer beater on opening night against the Denver Nuggets and converted a late game four-point play in a Kings win over the Chicago Bulls in January.

The Kings welcomed fans back to the Golden 1 Center for the first time in more than a year.

“The NBA is a game of ups and downs, it’s a game of runs and whoever makes the last one probably wins the game, we were the team to make the last run and we were able to feed off that, guys making plays for each other, making shots when the shot clock is down.

Harrison [Barnes] making a big three, Ty [Haliburton] making a big three, we getting steals, getting stops,” Hield said.

“The fans were getting into it. It was 2,000 fans, but you could hear the energy and the joy. I think that gives, especially for a team like this, life.”

The Kings are just 24-35 on the season and will have three days off before meeting the Warriors in San Francisco on Sunday.

“We have to keep building, we have so many games left and we have to see what happens. We have to continue to get better and continue to grow, continue to develop the young guys,” Hield said.

“It’s been a weary year but nobody is going to feel sorry for you in this league.”