SAN FRANCISCO – “Good to see some shots go in, right?” Buddy Hield hypothetically asked the media as he went to the podium after the Warriors’ 114-106 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
Inserted into the starting lineup to generate some offense two days after the Warriors scored only 90 points against the Timberwolves’ defense, and on a night where they were without Andrew Wiggins, Buddy Hield’s shooting performance couldn’t have begun any worse.
His first shot came at the halfway mark of the first quarter, with six minutes remaining and the Warriors trailing by four points, 16-12. Steph Curry hid behind Draymond Green, dribbling behind him to screen off Jaden McDaniels. Timberwolves guard Mike Conley came to help, leaving Hield open from 3-point range at the right wing.
But Hield missed, by a lot -- an overshot from someone who has been historically great from long distance in his nine-year NBA career. Was this a preview of what was to come? Hield had been in a shooting slump, going 5 of 18 on threes (28.7 percent) in his last four games. Fifth time, as the saying goes, is the charm.
Nobody scored more than Curry’s 30 points in the win. Every hero needs a sidekick. Better yet, every shooter needs a Buddy, who happened to score 27 huge points in the Warriors’ win.
"First one was an air ball, by the way,” Hield reminded us. “Just keep weathering the storm. Weathering the storm, and just keep trusting my work. All it takes is one to go in.”
His next shot after his air ball didn’t go in, though. Within a minute of that failed first attempt, Hield’s next three fell short. Once the second quarter started up, he began finding the middle.
Golden State Warriors
Hield scored eight points in the second quarter, going 3 of 5 from the field and 2 of 4 on threes. The Warriors as a whole caught fire in the third quarter, and Hield burned the Timberwolves for a scorching stretch to shift the momentum fully to the home team.
With nine minutes left in the third quarter, Hield grabbed a defensive rebound and dribbled the entire court to finish with a layup over Rudy Gobert, making it a six-point game. At the 8:08 mark, Hield's 3-pointer cut the deficit to three points, and at 7:32, a three from Hield at the top of the arc tied it all up at 69 points apiece. A transition three from Hield with five-plus minutes to go put the Warriors ahead, 76-74, giving them their first lead since it was 2-0.
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“Well, it took him a little bit,” coach Steve Kerr said. “He missed shots early. But we’re at our best when we’re playing fast and with a lot of pace, and that’s what Buddy does really well. He runs the floor in transition probably better than anybody on our team. He just sprints to the corners and it creates a lot of space. Early in the season, he was getting a lot of shots in transition from the corners. So that was kind of the idea, see if we could get him going again, our offense has really been struggling. He just eventually found his comfort zone, and confidence, and got going again.”
Hield's hot start for the Warriors this season was a major reason why they were so successful early on. In their first seven games, in which the Warriors were 6-1, Hield scored 20 or more points six times. It took him 53 games to score 20 or more points six times last season.
An assist from Lindy Waters III on Sunday night is what got him going against Minnesota, Hield believes. He sprinted to the right corner on an air ball from Jonathan Kuminga that Kevon Looney caught and saved from going out of bounds, finding Waters in the left corner, who swung a sweet cross-court pass to Hield.
The pass was so flawless that Hield immediately began his shooting motion upon catching the ball. He connected for the second time in the second quarter, and second time overall for the game, finding his rhythm from then on. From that three to his final of the night, Hield finished the game 6 of 8 from deep.
“Steve [Kerr] did a good job of just letting me stay out there and letting me figure it out,” Hield said. “Sometimes you need to get settled in, and I think that was the play that made me get settled in. If you know what I’m talking about as a basketball player, you sometimes get locked in and you’re just running around all the time and you don't feel comfortable. But that play helped me get settled in, and I was able to make a pull-up two and after that and in the second half I figured it out.”
At halftime, Hield was at eight points. In the third quarter alone he scored 11. The eight points Hield scored in the fourth were more than any other Warrior, and while Green enjoyed the win with a full-court "night night" celebration, Hield is who put the Timberwolves to sleep.
Gary Payton II’s steal turned to Curry hitting Hield in the chest for three from the left corner and the Warriors leading by three points, 109-106, with just under a minute still on the clock. Elation. Eruption. Electricity in Chase Center resulting in Hield’s game-sealing three that pushed the Warriors’ lead to six points, garnering an emphatic reaction from Curry.
YEAH BUDDY LOVE 👌
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) December 9, 2024
📺 @NBCSAuthentic pic.twitter.com/l34h1o05de
“That reaction was from us talking on the plane, because I had one in Denver and I tricked it off,” Hield said. “... I took that really serious. I said, 'The next one I’m making it.' That’s why we looked at each other and we were celebrating, because Draymond, we talked about it on the plane. It’s the one I need to make, and the one they need me to make, because it always comes back.”
The Warriors now are 7-0 in games Hield scores 20 or more points. When he’s running, catching and shooting – when the Warriors are playing with pace and space – the new marriage is a perfect match.
