Steph believes Buddy Warriors provides a “seamless transition” from Klay who originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Buddy Hield impressed in his Warriors regular-season debut Wednesday night, sinking five 3-pointers in Golden State’s 139-104 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
It was a welcome sight for Steph Curry, who believes Hield can fill the team’s void left by Klay Thompson’s departure to the Dallas Mavericks this offseason.
“Without Klay you have to shoot, but we had to shoot anyway,” Curry told reporters after the game (Anthony Slater of The Athletic). “Me and [Hield] have been one and two [in 3-point shooting]and Klay has been shooting threes for eight years, so we know what [Hield’s] The skills are: we know what he is capable of.
“He has had a very seamless transition so far.”
Hield brings what the Warriors miss most from Thompson: three-point shooting. Thompson was the Warriors’ No. 2 scorer last season, behind Curry. But in Hield, Golden State signed a player who has made 1,322 threes over the past five seasons, the most in the NBA, and his new teammate Curry is second in that span with 1,264.
That was on display Wednesday night when Hield scored 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 from 3-point range. Curry, meanwhile, was the Warriors’ third-leading scorer against the Trail Blazers with 17 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-of-7 from deep, behind Andrew Wiggins’ 20 points and four 3-pointers.
Finding Curry some scoring help has been one of general manager Mike Dunleavy’s main goals this season, and while the Warriors didn’t land a star like Paul George or Lauri Markkanen, Hield’s skill set seems like an adequate one-game acquisition.
Hield told reporters after the game that he hasn’t felt this free playing basketball since he played college basketball at Oklahoma. And it’s clear that Curry is happy to have Hield on the Warriors’ side now, especially after what they lost in Thompson.
“He’s out of this world. He loves this game,” Curry told Hield reporters (h/t 95.7 The Game). “He’s happy that he can play a system he feels comfortable in. …
“I know he’s been playing against us for years. Being on the other side is demoralizing for a team, but now he gets to add something to that, so it’s a cool experience for him.”
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