Hield Passes Bibby On Kings’ All-Time Three-Point Field Goal List In Win Over Pelicans
Aug 11, 2020, 8:29 PM | Updated: 8:36 pm
(Photo by Kim Klement-Pool/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kim Klement-Pool/Getty Images)
Sacramento defeated New Orleans without the services of De’Aaron Fox, Kent Bazemore and Richaun Holmes
The Sacramento Kings were eliminated from postseason contention for the 14th year in-a-row on Sunday afternoon, but the team was back in action on Tuesday night looking for something positive to hang their hats on.
Although several stars did not play for each team, the Kings defeated the New Orleans Pelicans by a final of 112-106 on Tuesday afternoon at the ESPN Wide World of Sports located within Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.
Sacramento played on Tuesday without De’Aaron Fox (shoulder), Richaun Holmes (hip) and Kent Bazemore (calf) while the Pelicans were without Jrue Holiday, Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Derrick Favors.
Both the Kings and Pelicans were eliminated from postseason contention over the weekend, meaning that Tuesday’s game would feature some unlikely heroes.
One hero for Sacramento was Bogdan Bogdanovic, who continued his incredible play during bubble action with 16 points (seven-of-nine from the field), six rebounds and seven assists .
Buddy Hield passed former Kings guard Mike Bibby on the Sacramento franchise three-point field goal leaders list, hitting his 776th long-ball with just under a minute left in the third-period to claim possession of third-place on the leaderboard.
Hield now only trails Hall of Fame guard Mitch Richmond (993) and two-time NBA Three-Point Champion Peja Stojakovic (1070) on the all-time list.
‘Buddy Buckets’ finished with 11 points on four-of-five shooting from the field in limited minutes, only seeing 19 minutes of action.
Harrison Barnes was the leading scorer on Tuesday, scoring a game-high 25 points on seven-of-14 from the field to go along with eight rebounds.
Impending free-agent Harry Giles III had his most impressive showing during bubble play, finishing with a double-double over 25 minutes of action. Giles scored 12 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked two shots for the Kings.
Nemanja Bjelica finished with 13 points and five rebounds for the Kings, while Jabari Parker pitched in with 12 points and four rebounds.
In a puzzling move, head coach Luke Walton opted to not play his two rookies (Kyle Guy and Justin James) in the first ‘meaningless’ game of the season.
It’s likely that Guy and James will see the floor in Thursday’s season finale.
With the win, Sacramento clinches a 30-win season for the fourth time over the last five seasons. Leading into this current stretch, the Kings had gone seven seasons without winning more than 29 games.
Of course, winning 30 games is never anything to be proud of in the Western Conference. If the Sacramento Kings want to return to relevancy, they will need to win 40-games or more to cement themselves as a competitor in a tough conference.
When will that day come?
14 years have passed. How many more will it take to build a winner?
Hopefully, sooner than later.
Coming Up
The 2019-20 season will come to a close for the Kings on Thursday morning when they face the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sacramento will immediately board a bus to head to the airport and leave the bubble once Thursday’s game in complete. With a win, the Kings could finish the season with a 31-win season–their fourth-most wins since the 2007-2008 season.
Be sure to tune in at 10:00am PST for pregame coverage, followed by tip-off at 10:30am PST right here on Sports 1140 KHTK.
