Behold the streak shooter, who can at once be the most uplifting and confounding of basketball players, a guy capable of taking his team to untold heights and relegating it to the deepest depths.
There are only two spigots with such a guy – one spewing lava, the other emanating from Ice Station Zebra. And never the twain shall meet.
That brings us to quintessential streaker, Buddy Hield, who on Sunday night carried the aging, wheezing Golden State Warriors over the finish line by ringing up 33 points in a 103-89 Game 7 victory over the rising Houston Rockets.
Hield was unquestionably the best shooter on the court … in a game that included Stephen Curry. Playing in just the 11th playoff game of his nine-year career, he was more clutch than another teammate, Jimmy Butler, who has made a habit of such performances.
Butler was excellent, with 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Curry, the understandable focal point of the Rockets’ terrific defense (and youthful stopper Amen Thompson in particular), started 1-for-8 from the floor but finished 8-for-16, collecting 22 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks.
But Hield, a 32-year-old native of the Bahamas, took a back seat to no one. He nailed all but three of his 15 shots, all but two of his 11 3-point attempts. His barrage included a 42-foot heave at the first-quarter horn, and a corner 3 with 2:31 remaining in the game that pushed the Dubs’ lead, once just three, to 20.
According to Basketball-Reference.com, he had the highest true shooting percentage in NBA history (110 percent!) of a player scoring more than 30 points in a Game 7. It was also the 11th-biggest game of his career, regular season or otherwise.
For his career, his numbers look fine – 15 points a game on .433/.397/.858 shooting splits. He has averaged as many as 21 a game in a season, and 15.6 or more on five occasions. (He has also been durable, playing 80 games or more seven times, and at least 71 all nine seasons.)
But his maddening inconsistency was exemplified last year, during his half-season in Philadelphia. He was so ineffective in the first three games of a first-round series against the Knicks that Nick Nurse benched him for Games 4 and 5, then grasped at a straw and trotted Hield out there in Game 6, an elimination game.
Buddy, much to everyone’s surprise, lit it up, shooting 6-for-9 from deep and scoring 20 off the bench. The Sixers lost anyway, then sent him on his way.
This season brought more of the same. He was scalding early on, then leveled off while making 22 starts among his 82 appearances. His scoring average (11.1) was his lowest since his rookie year, his shooting percentage (.417) and 3-point accuracy (,370) his worst in three seasons.
Going forward, the Warriors are going to need him. They next face Minnesota, a team that is again younger than them, as well as bigger and deeper. Steve Kerr showed little trust in anyone other than his veterans Sunday, and not without reason; his starters scored all but three of their points.
But let’s remember that Curry and Butler, terrific as they are, are both north of 30, and playing with injuries (in Curry’s case a sprained right thumb, in Butler’s case a pelvis injury and gluteal contusion). They’re very likely going to need more Buddyball if they want to stick around.
Certainly there will be nights when he ignites and takes them to great heights. But there are also going to be nights where he goes in the other direction, and they find themselves buried in Ice Station Zebra. Just the way it goes with a guy like this.