Buddy Hield Showers Love on Lindy Waters After Sparking 20-Point Comeback Off the Bench vs Pelicans

The Golden State Warriors pulled off a stunner at Chase Center last night. In the absence of Stephen Curry, De’Anthony Melton, and Andrew Wiggins, they defeated the Pelicans 124-106, overcoming a 20-point deficit. Buddy Hield led the team in scoring, registering a 28-point performance.

During the post-game presser, he heaped praise on Lindy Waters III for coming off the bench with a stellar performance and giving his team some much-needed boost. During his conversation with the media, Hield was asked about the turning point in the game. Without any hesitation, he said Waters made all the difference coming off the bench in the second quarter.

“Lindy Waters he making plays, he got us going…he making cuts, getting lay-ups [got us out of trouble],” Hield said.

In the absence of their biggest superstar, Hield and Draymond Green acted as leaders on the floor. Warriors ended the first quarter with just 14 points against the Pelicans’ 31. After the lead piled up to 20 points, they managed to pull off an impressive comeback.

Waters scored 21 points with eight rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes. He also received a lot of praise from coach Steve Kerr after the game.

He said, “I’ve said it since day one of camp, this guy is a ball player. The game flows when he’s out there…He’s a good basketball player. It’s the shots that he doesn’t take because of his patience. It’s the cuts that he makes to the basket…”

“From day one of camp, this guy has been one of our best players, frankly,” Kerr added.

After getting very limited time in the first three games, Waters was ready to pounce on the next opportunity.

Lindy Waters III talked about his mentality of always staying ready

In the first three games, Waters had five, seven, and one minutes on the floor respectively. In such a limited time, he couldn’t get the right opportunity to showcase his talent. However, luck favored him when the Warriors stepped onto the floor without three key players and Jonathan Kuminga on the bench.

Waters said, “Just always staying ready is my mentality… I got a strap on me. I just wake up and I can shoot it no matter if I’m playing or not.”

During the pre-game interview, Kerr talked about the challenge of rotating 12 players each game. Now, Waters has presented a strong case for him being the 13^th player in the rotation.

While praising the 27-year-old at the post-game press conference, Kerr said that he’ll have to figure out how to give minutes to the star performer as well.