Buddy Hield was a key contributor for the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center on Monday, bouncing back to some form and finding his shooting stroke during a 130-120 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
The veteran sharpshooter combined with Gary Payton II to deliver 46 points off the Warrior bench, with Hield going for 20 points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting from the floor and 6-of-9 from 3-point range.
Buddy Hield continues to shine against lesser opposition
The 32-year-old entered on the back of two poor games against the Brooklyn Nets and Detroit Pistons, having scored just eight combined points on 3-of-15 shooting from the floor and 1-of-10 from beyond the arc.
Hield's 23 minutes against the Nets were particularly poor. He missed all eight of his shots including all five of his threes, finishing as a -11 as the Warriors overcame that individually poor performance to record a two-point win.
It was good to see Hield bounce-back and find some rhythm against the Trail Blazers. Golden State certainly needed his scoring output, having given up 43 points in the third-quarter as 66 combined from Deni Avdija (34) and Anfernee Simons (32) threat a Portland comeback victory.
At the same time, it's another example of Hield taking advantage against lesser opposition. Monday's outing was the 10th time he's reached 20 points this season, with eight of those now coming against teams who would not be making the playoffs if they started today. Furthermore, seven of Hield's 20-point games have come against opponents that are currently bottom four in their respective conference.
While it's not necessarily surprising for role players to perform better against lesser opposition, Hield's numbers are probably a little too skewed and represent a problem for the Warriors as they push towards the playoffs.
Given his inability to provide big scoring outbursts against the better teams, what kind of trust can Steve Kerr have in Hield once the playoffs roll around? There's little doubt Warrior fans will be nervous, assuming they do reach the postseason amid a 12-2 surge over the past 14 games.
Hield has averaged 23.3 minutes per game so far this season. It's difficult to see him getting anywhere near that playing time during the playoffs, particularly as Golden State prepare to welcome back Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski which will give them up to 11 players who warrant minutes in the rotation.
At the same time, no one outside Stephen Curry possesses the shooting threat that Hield does. The Warriors will desperately need that at certain points, and it will therefore be interesting to see how his minutes fluctuate over the remainder of the season.