After his worst game of the season, and certainly one of the worst of his five-year NBA career, Bahamian Chavano ‘Buddy’ Hield came back on Super Bowl Sunday and dropped in 22 points on 7-for-18 shooting in a pivotal 113-110 road victory for the Sacramento Kings over the Los Angeles Clippers in Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
Meanwhile, in the valley of the Suns, fellow Bahamian DeAndre Ayton was back in double-double mode, scoring 16 points and adding 11 rebounds as the Phoenix Suns defeated the Boston Celtics, 100-91, on Super Sunday at the Phoenix Suns Arena in downtown Phoenix, Arizona.
For Hield and the Kings, the victory was their fourth straight and seventh in their last eight games, continuing their trajectory upward in a tough Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). They find themselves with a 12-11 win/loss record, tied for the eighth spot in the west and over .500 basketball for the first time since the end of 2020.
De’Aaron Fox led the Kings in scoring on Sunday with a game-high 36 points and Hield contributed 22. Lou Williams paced the Clippers with 23 off the bench and Kawhi Leonard added 20.
For the season, Hield is averaging 15.9 points per game – down from the 20.7 and 19.2 he turned in over the past two seasons in Sacramento. He is adding 4.7 rebounds and three assists in 34.9 minutes per game this season while shooting a career-low 37.3 from the field and is 37.3
percent from three-point land.
On Saturday night against the Denver Nuggets, Hield was a woeful 1-for-11 from the field including 0-for-9 from distance, ending an 87-game streak in which he had hit at least one three pointer. The starting two-guard of the Kings finished with just five points in 39 minutes of play, but added seven assists and four rebounds and the Kings held on, 119-114, to complete a season sweep of the Nuggets.
On Sunday, the 28-year-old Bahamian sharp shooter was much more efficient. Included in the 7-for-18 performance was a 3-for-9 afternoon from distance.
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