The Golden State Warriors began a back-to-back series against the New Orleans Pelicans without Stephen Curry alluding to his ankle injury. For Kerr, the next in line was Andrew Wiggins. The Canadian forward couldn’t feature either. Yet, the Bay found a way through unity and coordination to thwart the Pelicans with their incessant three-point makes and suffocating defense.

“This is the point. To be able to withstand injuries and absences,” Kerr said before the game. The Bay at one point fell down by 20 points against their rivals. However, resilience paved the way for an incredible fightback. Not only did the Warriors trouble the Pelicans’ offense, but Hield had to fight his own battles.

Luckily, he had some help with him. After only a 9-point first half, Hield got some consultation from Reggie Miller, a celebrated shooter himself. He offered him a simple, yet quintessential piece of advice. “He told me to shoot the blanking ball,” said the sharpshooter trying to avoid the profanities the Pacers legend didn’t want to share with the media.

For a shooter, that’s the vote of confidence one needs. To Hield, who Kerr decided not to start in the second half for a stride Lindy Waters II, who added 21 points off the bench. That breather though pumped Buddy Hield with a desire to keep shooting. And once he did, the Bahamas guard couldn’t stop making shots.

It turned the Dub Nation upside down.

Buddy Hield hyped not just Stephen Curry, but the Warriors fans too

Following the talk from Miller, Buddy Hield’s mind opened up to the possibility of a cataclysmic shift. A streaky night became one of his most memorable early moments with the Warriors. Stephen Curry forgot all about his ankle pain as he jumped uncontrollably as Hield couldn’t miss. “When Steph Curry is cheering you on you KNOW you’re doing good haha,” a fan rightfully noticed.

The guard brought in to replace the disposition of Klay Thompson scored a team-high 28 points. 19 of those came in a rampant fourth-quarter run, that helped the Warriors get past the Pelicans. Hield’s seven threes were primarily responsible for halting any momentum New Orleans generated during his run.

That’s how great of a start it’s been for the former Kings shooter. Barring his slump against the Clippers, Buddy Hield has become a vital part of Kerr’s offense. Tonight, in the absence of any of their heavyweights, he turned the tables around. “He’s been everything this team needed and more,” a fan professed.

However, tonight was more about the Warriors simply shooting their way to the win. It did play an integral role though. The Bay shot 46 threes, hitting a healthy 45.7% to drown the Pelicans. On the other hand, the visiting side only put up 22 three-pointers, failing to gain any surge from their attempts.

It was a collective effort, as Steve Kerr planned from his comments from before the season began. But it’s hard to get past the contributions of Buddy Hield in achieving such consistency. Dub Nation is still finding it hard to compute how the 31-year-old has found his second wind. “how is he doing this every night???” a follower wondered.

In four games, Hield has now surpassed 20+ points on three occasions. Furthermore, while sharing the offensive brunt with Curry, he has also managed to become the Warriors’ most splashy shooter. For the season, he is shooting 52% from range on the second-most attempts on the roster behind Curry.

Putting that aside, as much as scoring helped, the Warriors’ defense may taken greater precedence. Tonight, they forced the Pelicans into taking tough shots and making errors which they capitalized on with their pace. A fan feels “We need to keep playing at a fast pace. No other can run with us, all game long because they can’t keep up with us when we run all game,”.

The Warriors forced the Pels into 23 turnovers as opposed to their seven. Through their pressuring defense, the Warriors earned 34 points off turnovers, 29 more than the Pelicans. As far as the test of depth goes, Steve Kerr has a great reason to remain confident. Even with three of their major contributors on the bench, the Bay eased to an 18 point win.

Do you think they can repeat this tomorrow? Let us kno your views in the comments below.