Why the Kings ‘deserved to win’ after Buddy Hield helped rally them past the Grizzlies

Buddy Hield was in a playful mood after the game.

It was recently reported that the Kings shooting guard is a year older than most realized. As media approached him, he joked about what kind of ice cream and candy he likes.

So how old is he?

“If I didn’t get fouled, I would have (scored) my age, but I made the two free throws to seal the game,” Hield said. “So do the math.”

Those freebies put the third-year guard at 28 points and helped the Kings rally from a 19-point deficit for a 102-99 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night at Golden 1 Center.

“Real credit to our guys tonight for staying with it,” Kings coach Dave Joerger said. “(The Grizzlies) were locked in and they may feel that this one got away. I don’t know but maybe we stole one, but our guys deserved to win for how they played in the second half.”

Hield scored 16 of the Kings’ 37 points in the fourth quarter to complete the comeback against the Grizzlies (16-16), who led by nine entering the period.

The Kings (17-15) shot just 31 percent through three quarters. Overall, the Kings shot under 40 percent (37.5) for just the second time all season.

Hield shot 4 of 16 through three quarters, then caught fire, going 5 of 8, including 4 of 5 on 3-pointers.

“He’s a scorer,” said guard De’Aaron Fox, who had 14 points, eight assists and five steals. “At some point in every game, a scorer is really going to get on a roll. ... It’s bound to happen. There’s a lot of guys in the league that can really do that; he’s the guy on our team that really does that well.”

Hield, the team’s leading scorer at 20.1 points per game, celebrated his 26th birthday Monday. His NBA player bio has been the cause of confusion. The Kings told The Bee they have his birthday correctly listed as Dec. 17, 1992, but the error has been repeated in the media since he was drafted No. 6 overall by the New Orleans Pelicans in 2016. As of early Saturday morning, it was still incorrect on some websites, including ESPN and Basketball Reference.

Hield said a win like this one is a result of the team’s camaraderie.

“That shows us coming together and trying to make it work, making the right plays and executing down the stretch,” Hield said. “It was a great team win. I was so happy for the fans to be a part of it and experience that.”

The victory snapped a two-game slide for the Kings while pushing the Grizzlies’ losing streak to five. The Kings survived a big game from guard Mike Conley, who had a team-high 23 points and tied a career high with seven 3-pointers. He was scoreless in the fourth quarter.

“We got off to a great start. We had a double-figure lead for the majority of the first half,” Grizzlies coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Maybe it’s a self-esteem issue. Maybe we’re so down on ourselves that we’re struggling to finish and struggling to complete the game.”

The game also ended a streak of losses in third meetings this season. The Kings fell to 1-2 against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday and dropped their first in three meetings with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday before improving to 2-1 against Memphis.

The only team the Kings play at least three times that they’ve yet to meet is Portland, which visits Golden 1 Center on New Year’s Day.

Up next is New Orleans on Sunday at Golden 1 Center. The Kings allowed a season-high 149 points to the Pelicans in a road loss Oct. 19. It will be the second of four contests between the teams.

As for Friday, Hield was happy with how fun the game was, even if it didn’t look that way for most of it.

“Every game is not going to be perfect ... but a win is a win,” he said. “We’ll try to keep this rolling for Sunday.”

This story was originally published December 22, 2018 at 2:30 AM.