The Warriors pulled off a surprising 123-91 win against the Bulls despite not having Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, or Al Horford available tonight. Several players have stepped up for the Warriors in the absence of their veterans.
Buddy Hield finished the game with just nine points and seven rebounds while shooting 40% from the field. Yet he has seemingly impressed Steve Kerr with his recent performances.
After the game tonight, Steve Kerr spoke in detail about how he had to remind Buddy Hield about the increased competition for minutes and credited him for stepping up in the high-pressure situation of not having their superstar on the court.
“We get Steph back, and you know, we got Pat playing at the level he is. You know, BP’s picked it up, and Melton is a hell of a player. So, we got a lot of guys who can play. And the thing that I like about it is that it creates competition,” said Kerr on the complexity of figuring out player rotations in the next game.
“I think what Buddy has done, you know, over the last five, six games… Buddy’s a guy who understands the league. You know, Ron [Adams] always says it’s a show-me league. You know, show me how hard you’re playing, show me the production.”
“And I don’t know if I should spill the beans, but Buddy took a red eye the night before the Philly game. He had a family thing; something great happened in his family. Took the red eye, got in the morning, and just absolutely played his butt off that night.
“And I challenged him a couple of weeks ago to take care of the ball. He’s taking care of the ball,” said Kerr on pushing Hield out of his comfort zone.
“This is how the league works. I mean, there’s always somebody knocking down the door trying to get your job. And so it’s on everybody to just compete, bring their best effort for the team. And I think we got a lot of guys doing that. You can feel the energy. We’re playing with a different level of energy the last few nights,” concluded Kerr in praise of Hield and the other Warriors role players.
Buddy Hield had been struggling to find any consistency over the season when Curry was healthy. He had several games with single-digit scoring and some of them also with no offensive production whatsoever (0 points).
However, in the past five games that the Warriors have played without Curry, they have won three. And Kerr believes Hield has been a lot more consistent in that stretch. Hield had three games with double-digits in scoring and near double-doubles (falling a few rebounds short). He also had only three turnovers in their last five fixtures.
This season, the Warriors’ sharpshooter has averaged 8.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. As a sharpshooter, shooting 30.5% from three-point range for the season usually would mark a struggling start for Hield.
Kerr was not marking any red flags for Buddy Hield but simply praised him for stepping up to the challenge when Kerr reminded him of the harsh reality that the Warriors veteran needs to live with: too much competition.
Somehow, without Curry and several of their key players available on their recent road trip, Golden State has come away with two wins and a loss. The Warriors now have a few days of break due to the NBA Cup before they face the Timberwolves next on Friday (December 12). It will be interesting to see how Kerr figures out the player rotations now that the roster is expected to be fully healthy in their next game.
