Buddy Hield, persevering through challenging season, steps up on both ends against Hawks

ATLANTA -- Buddy Hield finished a floater in the lane and very quickly found himself alone in the backcourt with Hawks All-Star guard Trae Young as the rest of the Pacers got back on transition defense. He immediately started gesticulating wildly toward the Pacers' bench a few yards away as he was starting to backpedal but whatever he was communicating -- he stayed on Young.

The 31-year-old Hield hasn't built nearly as good of a reputation as a defender as he has as a shooter in his eight years in the league, and the Pacers don't generally use him to defend All-Star point guards. Young seemed to sense that he had the advantage so he hit Hield with a quick hesitation move, feinting left, but then crossing over and breaking to his right side and around Hield's left shoulder.

That got Hield turned around until he was facing the basket rather than Young, but he rode the point guard's left shoulder down the lane. Young stopped for a pull-up and Hield's momentum kept going, but Hield leaped and threw his right arm up to block Young's attempt at a jumper. Young collected the ball and tried to go up again, but Hield stripped it before he could shoot. Hield used the steal to start a fast break and found Pacers center Isaiah Jackson on his right for an easy layup that put the Pacers up 28-26 in the first quarter.

Hield would finish with a team-high 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range in a 126-108 win over the Hawks at State Farm Arena that marked the Pacers' ninth win in their last 10 games and their third straight. All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, one of Hield's closest friends, suffered a hamstring strain before halftime in the first of those three victories and will be out for at least the five remaining games on this road trip, but the Pacers haven't lost without him yet during this stretch and sit alone in fourth place in the Eastern Conference a half-game up on the fifth-place Cavaliers.

The shooting was notable as Hield, who ranks 25th all-time in made 3-pointers with 1,811 in his career -- was coming off a scoreless performance on Wednesday night in which he was 0 of 5 from the field and 0 of 3 from 3-point range.

But when Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was asked about Hield in his postgame press conference, he didn't want to talk about shooting. He wanted to talk about what Hield was doing on the other side of the ball. He wanted to talk about Hield's three blocked shots and the degree to which he was clearly taking his assignments on that end seriously.

"I'm more impressed by Buddy's defense and how he is digging in and how he is helping teammates," Carlisle said. "He has really elevated his level at that end. ... Physicality, attention to detail, communication."

And the fact that Hield has taken seriously the improvement of what has been more of a weak point for him throughout his career speaks highly to Carlisle about the level of buy-in Hield has maintained in what has been for him a challenging year with the lingering question of just how much longer he will remain in a Pacers uniform hanging over him.

After starting 73 of the 80 games he played in last season, Hield began this season on the bench, then went back into the starting lineup for 16 games, then moved out of it again. His scoring average (12.6 ppg) is the lowest it has been since his rookie year and he's averaging fewer minutes (25.5 mpg) than he has in any season since his first two in the NBA. His shooting numbers are down from last year across the board, and the player who once had a streak of 87 consecutive games in which he hit at least one 3-pointer during his time with the Sacramento Kings has had five games this year in which he failed to hit at least one 3 and three games in the last one month in which he failed to score a point.

And since Hield's four-year, $94 million contract is set to expire at the end of this season and he and the Pacers have not come to an agreement on an extension, it is naturally assumed that if the Pacers are to make a big move to acquire an All-Star caliber player such as Toronto's Pascal Siakam, Hield would have to be included in any deal just to make the money work.

But despite all that, Hield has worked his way through every shooting slump, accepted the lineup shifts, shaken off the bad performances and stayed true to the hope that he can at least stay with Indiana throughout the season and help the Pacers reach the playoffs so he can experience the postseason for the first time in his career.

"When things were going a little haywire tonight, Buddy calmed the group down on the floor," Carlisle said, referring to the end of the second quarter when the Pacers lost most of what had been a 19-point second-quarter lead before rebuilding it in the third quarter. "He's a veteran. He sees the opportunity that we have this year. We've got a very, very long way to go, but it means something to him."

That's why he's embraced every change in his role. Assuredly, he would rather start and he'd rather play as many minutes as possible with Haliburton, as their chemistry is excellent and the gravity of each as an outside shooter creates an opportunity for the other. But he's willing to do whatever wins.

"It's not easy," Hield said. "It's not a hard question, it's trying to figure it out, persevere, fight and enjoy the tough times and the good times and just trust that everything works out in the end as it's supposed to. We're winning, so it's good. When you win, everything's good. You can't complain and it makes life easier on everybody else."

The shooting slumps have been frustrating because Hield considers that his craft. Last season, he broke Reggie Miller's franchise single-season 3-pointers record by hitting 288 and did while making 42.5% of his attempts. Golden State's Klay Thompson was the only player who hit more with 301 and his teammate Stephen Curry was the only player who made at least 200 3-pointers who made them at a better clip, hitting 42.7% (273 of 639). In each of the last five seasons, Hield’s hit at least 262 3-pointers and shot no worse than 36.6%.

Even after Friday's performance, he's still at 38.1% and his 106 3-pointers in 38 games have him on pace for 228, well short of his standard. In his previous seven games before Friday night, he had made 12 of 38 3-pointers (31.6%) and it wasn't his first slump of the year.

But as Hield did in each previous rough stretch, he found his rhythm through practice, staying on the floor at Friday morning's shootaround long after most of the team had left for the team hotel.

"It's perseverance," Hield said. "Perseverance. It's never an easy road, you know? Especially in the NBA. It's a long season. There's lots of ups and downs, but you have to find it and persevere through it and you have to trust what gets you here. If there's one person that can figure out any obstacle that has been put in his way, it's me. I accept the challenge and love it and it's fun."

Hield's teammates know that, and that's why they make sure he always has the opportunity to shoot through his slumps. He's proven his value too often not to be given more chances, and even when he doesn't make shots, his reputation as a shooter commands defensive attention and alters defensive game plans.

"He's one of the best shooters in the world," point guard T.J. McConnell said. "And anybody who disagrees with that doesn't know basketball. We're glad to have him over here and he really helps us in stuff that people don't even talk about. When we're running pick-and-roll plays or stack, guys are so worried about him that our point guards can get downhill and start moving the ball and creating a problem."

And defensively, Hield has made noticeable gains as the Pacers' defense collectively has made noticeable gains. It hampered them for much of the early part of the season and on the year they still rank 28th in the league in points allowed (123.4 per game) and 26th in the league in defensive rating (119.3 points per 100 possessions). But in the last 10 games since a lineup shift that moved forwards Aaron Nesmith and Jalen Smith into the starting lineup, they're 13th in the league in defensive rating (114.0 points per 100 possessions), 16th in the league in points allowed (116.7 per game) and fifth in opponent's effective field goal percentage (.527).

Hield hasn't spearheaded that, but he hasn't been a liability either, and the more players the Pacers have who can simply guard their yard and keep their man in front of them, the better their defensive structure works.

"It's just winning angle battles," Hield said. "In the NBA man, it's gonna be tough. You can't stop them every time, but you try to win the most battles you can and then try to cut them off of angles. And fight them and when you lose one on that end you fight the next day. And it's being more locked in and watching more film on guys and knowing their tendencies."

Said McConnell: "I don't think his defense is talked about enough either. He's been incredible on that side of the ball and plays his butt off on that end. It's locking in to tendencies. He's always had the ability to stay in front of guys laterally. He plays incredibly hard and accepts the challenge. He's just taking it to another level, watching more film, reading the scouting reports. The effort has always been there."

The Pacers need Hield to keep that effort and they do need him to make shots, particularly while Haliburton is out, because as much as they're making improvements on defense, they still need scoring and outside shooting to space the floor. Even if it means coming off the bench and fighting through more slumps, Hield is happy to keep contributing any way he can to keep them headed toward a postseason berth.

"When you're losing it's bad, but we're not losing," Hield said. "I'm happy to be in the situation I'm in. The goal is to get to the playoffs and re-write a different story."