If there's one player that's been a constant source of frustration for Golden State Warriors fans this season, it's enigmatic veteran sharpshooter Buddy Hield.
The first-year Warrior can evidently be a source of frustration for his own teammates, showcased in Friday's win over the Denver Nuggets where an animated Stephen Curry got into Hield after driving and foolishly throwing the ball away on a fast-break opportunity.
Hield's inconsistencies have been on full display since an electric start to the season where he averaged 21.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists on a scorching 50.7% shooting through the first eight games.
Steve Kerr is likely to retain faith in Buddy Hield
Since that early portion of the season, Hield has regressed into shooting 37.1% from beyond the arc for the year -- the second-lowest mark of his career. After starting 22 games throughout the first-half of the season, the former sixth overall pick has now fallen back into a bench role which has seen him average a career-low 22.8 minutes per game.
The gap between Hield's best and his worst remains as wide as the pacific ocean, leading to some concern among fans on just how much Steve Kerr and the Warriors will be relying upon him come the postseason.
After three-straight games where he combined for just 13 points on 16 shot attempts, Hield did spring to life as a rare positive in Sunday's 106-96 loss to the Houston Rockets. He finished with a team-high 20 points in 25 minutes, shooting 6-of-11 from beyond the arc in an attempt to make up for the incredibly quiet performances of Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler.
While that was a good sign entering the final week of the regular season, it's another statistic that proves why Kerr is likely to retain faith in Hield moving forward. Despite the fact no one would classify the 32-year-old as being in the top handful of Golden State's most in-form players over recent weeks, he actually ranks fourth on the team in plus-minus since the All-Star break -- only behind the veteran trio of Curry, Butler and Draymond Green.
There's actually a fair gap between Hield (+139) and the fifth-ranked Gui Santos (+104), proving that he's still proving effective despite what the eye-test may be telling us. This is likely down to Hield's sheer threat as a 3-point sniper, something the Warriors don't particularly have beyond Curry and perhaps rookie center Quinten Post.
Given the lack of alternative guard options off the bench, Warrior fans are just going to have to accept that Hield will still see regular minutes during the postseason, with the hope that those plus-minus numbers can continue for a while longer.