The New Orleans Pelicans have had plenty of bad players in franchise history, so I decided to investigate who the worst of the bunch was. That project sparked another idea of mine, to find the worst single-game performance in Pels history.
It’s hard to define what is definitively the “worst.” I qualified missed shots and turnovers are better than not accumulating stats at all. For example, I believe Tim Hardaway Jr. shooting 0-12 this past season is worst than the game Tony Snell played 28 minutes and failed to record a single stat. Tony Snell didn’t make any impact, but Tim Hardway Jr’s was so bad that it greatly influenced the game.
I didn’t take the situation in the season into account, because I think that is a different topic. There shockingly weren’t as many abysmal games in the franchise as I was expecting, which made this choice easier to formulate.
Why does Buddy Hield have the worst single-game performance in New Orleans Pelicans history?
As given away by the article’s featured image, Buddy Hield holds the crown for having the worst game in Pelicans history. It’s even more impressive because Hield didn’t even play an entire season with New Orleans.
As given away by the article’s featured image, Buddy Hield holds the crown for having the worst game in Pelicans history. It’s even more impressive because Hield didn’t even play an entire season with New Orleans.
The game of note was November 16th, 2016, and pitted the Pelicans against the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves. It was the 16th game of the season, and both sides were off to a terrible start. The teams were both 5 games below .500 and struggling to get out of the blows.
After seeing decreased playing time in the three games prior, rookie Buddy Hield was looking to break out against a weak opponent. What transpired was something no one in the stands could expect.
According to advanced statistics, the Timberwolves had the 4th worst defense in the NBA that season. In just 12 minutes, against that putrid defense, Hield shot 0 for 7 from the field. It doesn’t stop there because, for individual matchups, Hield went against Zach Lavine and Brandon Rush. Both of those players were notoriously awful defenders.
What separates this game from other notorious stinkers is that Hield wasn’t even able to get to the free-throw line. He finished with a goose egg and was the only Pelicans player that night who logged a minute to be held scoreless.
The only positive box-score stat he accumulated was an assist with 1:50 left to Terrence Jones. He also chipped in a turnover and foul for good measure. His box plus/minus of -30.1 is one of the most laughably bad stats you will find in the history of this franchise.
The defining moment of this historic performance was with 53 seconds in the 4th quarter when Kris Dunn rejected Hield’s layup from behind. The Pelicans were up 13 when that happened.
New Orleans won the game by scoring 116 points, which was about 9% more than the league average at the time. Anthony Davis didn’t struggle to score at all, as he dropped 45 against the Wolves that night. In a game where scoring was aplenty, and the defense was lacking, Buddy Hield still managed to drop this vomit-inducing stat line.