Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield. Candice Ward-Imagn Images

Putting Buddy Hield's scorching Warriors debut in context

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Oct 24, 2024 4:11 AM ET

The Warriors' offense has a simple formula this season: push the pace and shoot threes. The plan encourages players off the bench to enter the game and shoot without consequences. Head coach Steve Kerr has made that very clear already — he wants his players to go bombs away when their number is called upon.

And if there's one player who can truly go on "a heater," it's sharpshooter Buddy Hield, the Warriors' big offseason acquisition. In the season-opener against the Blazers on Wednesday, he scored 22 points, including five threes, in just 15 minutes, becoming the first player to score as many points as quickly since Paul George in 2022.

Furthermore, per ESPN Research, Hield's rapid-fire production gave him the record for most points scored by a Warrior in 15 or fewer minutes since 1987.

FLAMETHROWING @warriors debut for @buddyhield!

22 PTS in less than 15 MIN
8-12 FGM, 5-7 3PM

He becomes the first player since Paul George in 2022 to score 20+ points in less than 15 minutes! pic.twitter.com/XWHyOAGEmf
— NBA (@NBA) October 24, 2024

Hield's scorching Warriors debut earned him the praise of Stephen Curry and Kerr. The latter called him "an incredible addition" to the team who "everybody loves," citing his work ethic and joyous energy.

Steph was asked about Buddy Hield:

“The guy just loves to play basketball. He loves to hoop. He loves to be in the gym. He’s got a great personality…”

*Yells to Buddy*

“Oh my god, I’m complimenting you right now.” pic.twitter.com/24BFsrwFk3
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) October 24, 2024

While Hield got up seven threes in just 15 minutes, the Warriors, as a team, attempted a whopping 48 threes, which amounted to one shot per minute of the ball game. To put things in perspective, they attempted 38.9 threes per game last season, which ranked fourth in the league. It remains to be seen if they can sustain the 48-threes-per-game pace this season. If they do, one can expect Hield to produce many more scorching shooting nights like Wednesday.

Hield's ability to score quickly has already earned him comparisons with NBA legends such as Downtown Freddie Brown and Vinnie “Microwave” Johnson, who made a living making buckets off the bench.

The Warriors will next travel to Utah for a road game on Friday before returning home to host the Clippers in a Sunday matinee affair.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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