The Sacramento Kings actually have a shot at the eighth seed in the West, but a loss on Sunday to the Toronto Raptors in a close contest has to hurt.
It was in that game that the Kings were within three in the closing seconds, but for some reason, head coach Luke Walton didn’t have Buddy Hield, the reigning NBA All-Star weekend three-point contest winner and owner of a 39.5 three-point percentage this season, in the game.
NBC Sports California mics on the court picked up a fan yelling at Walton, calling him an “idiot” for not putting in Hield in that situation:
This Kings fan isn’t happy with Luke Walton benching Buddy Hield in crunch time
“Luke you’re an idiot! You have the 3 PT Champion! Play him! Where is Buddy?” 😳 pic.twitter.com/ewGKS4DYBo
— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) March 9, 2020
So what happened? Here’s Walton:
Luke Walton on his decision to bench Buddy at the end of tonight’s game. pic.twitter.com/u6WNoZxaZo
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) March 9, 2020
He wanted to go with the hot hands, but you have to play the percentages and lean on Hield to attempt a game-tying shot.
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