Buddy Hield, Tyrese Haliburton feel ‘different energy’ in Sacramento as Kings stomp Pacers

Tyrese Haliburton got cheered, Buddy Hield got booed, and the Indiana Pacers got blasted by the Beam Team on a raucous Wednesday evening in Sacramento.

In the end, there seemed to be no hard feelings as former teammates embraced at midcourt while Malik Monk and rapper 50 Cent, who sat courtside with Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, joined forces to light the purple victory beam atop the arena.

Harrison Barnes scored 22 points to lead seven players in double figures for Sacramento, leading the Kings to a 137-114 victory before a sellout crowd of 17,611 at Golden 1 Center.

Hield claimed to be unfazed by the relentless and somewhat perplexing boos from fans who cheered him during some of the team’s most memorable moments in recent years. This time, though, for the first time, Hield felt the roar of the Sacramento crowd from the other side.

“The fans were great,” Hield told The Sacramento Bee in the visitor’s locker room after the game. “They had a great atmosphere. It’s a great atmosphere to play in. It’s a great homecourt advantage, for sure. The fans also got really better (at) cheering. The energy was great. It was the best I’ve ever seen. The energy was different.”

Malik Monk, who was nominated as an early Sixth Man of the Year candidate during coach Mike Brown’s pregame news conference, came off the bench to produce 20 points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals.

Monk said Kings fans are “always loud,” but he agreed with Hield, saying the crowd’s energy was on another level.

“It definitely was higher tonight, probably because of Tyrese and Buddy,” Monk said. “… They’re both great players. Buddy can shoot the lights out and Tyrese just reads the game so well.”

De’Aaron Fox had 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting with five rebounds and six assists for the Kings (11-9), who snapped a three-game losing streak after winning seven in a row. Domantas Sabonis, playing against his former team, put up 11 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists despite dealing with foul trouble.

Hield had 17 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Pacers (12-9). Haliburton was held to nine points on 4-of-13 shooting with four rebounds and 10 assists. Monk credited Fox for making Haliburton go left, where he isn’t nearly as effective.

Haliburton said it was Davion Mitchell who made him uncomfortable early. Haliburton felt he was getting fouled, but he didn’t have a single free-throw attempt, resulting in frustration and a second-quarter technical foul.

“They’re a good team and they played better than us tonight, so we’ve just got to go on to the next one,” Haliburton told The Bee. “They had a good game tonight. I’ve watched them play, obviously, with the relationships I have over there, and they had a good game tonight. They executed their gameplan the right way, made shots, got stops when they needed to, got on some big runs, and made us run out of timeouts because we were turning the ball over. Kudos to them. They had a good game.”

Trade talk

Haliburton, Hield and Kings fans alike had this game circled on their calendars for months. Would Haliburton be cheered after making unflattering comments about the Kings organization? Would Hield hear boos?

Which team would be declared the winner of the blockbuster trade that sent Haliburton and Hield to Indiana in a deal that brought Sabonis to Sacramento? That could take years to sort out, but so far both sides seem satisfied with the return.

Sabonis came into the game averaging 16.9 points, 11.1 rebounds and 6.4 assists for a Kings team that is winning and grinning, and tied for sixth in the Western Conference, after 16 consecutive losing seasons. Haliburton came in averaging 19.9 points, 11.3 assists and 4.7 rebounds for the Pacers, better numbers than Steve Nash had during his back-to-back MVP campaigns with the Phoenix Suns. Hield, who holds the Kings’ franchise record with 1,248 3-pointers, came in averaging 17.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists.

Sabonis, Haliburton and Hield all reflected on the experience of playing against their former teams following the game.

“I understand that part of the business and I’m happy both sides are doing great,” Sabonis said. “Tyrese is playing amazing, at an awesome level. He’s (the) face of the franchise. He’s going to enjoy his time there. There’s a lot of nice people there that are gonna take care of him.”

Haliburton and Hield were both greeted with handshakes, hugs and lots of love when they came out for pregame warmups. Both stopped to sign autographs and pose for pictures with fans when they were done.

Haliburton received a huge ovation during pregame introductions with many fans climbing to their feet to give him a standing ovation.

“It meant a lot,” Haliburton said. “Like I always say, there’s a lot of love, a lot of emotions coming back here, so it felt good.”

Haliburton later elaborated on those feelings.

“I’ve said multiple times what this place means to me, what these people mean to me,” he said. “You see there’s a lot of people here in my jersey. There’s a lot of people showing my pops love, my mom love and my girl love throughout the day all around town, so that means a lot.”

No ill will

Haliburton and Hield went a combined 2 of 8 from the field to start the game. The Pacers kept the game close for about eight minutes, but KZ Okpala blocked a driving layup attempt by Haliburton, leading to a 3-pointer by Kevin Huerter and a 12-0 run that put the Kings up 33-20 at the end of the first quarter.

Sacramento went up by 17 in the first half and led by as many as 32 in the second half. The Kings shot 50.5% from the field and made 16 of 43 (.372) from 3-point range while holding the Pacers to 40% shooting in one of their best defensive efforts of the season.

“I think this one’s on me,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “Just didn’t have our guys ready, and we knew this was going to be a difficult game and environment. I didn’t have them prepared for what was coming.”

Hield was booed during introductions and virtually every time he touched the ball, similar to the treatment Marvin Bagley III received when made his first visit with the Detroit Pistons on Nov. 20. For whatever reason, Hield was cast as the villain on this occasion, but he said he held no ill will for Kings fans.

“They haven’t won in a long time, so to be around some of this winning, these fans want something to cheer for,” Hield said. “They’ve been dying to have something to cheer about, so to see them doing good is great, man. I don’t hate on them. I wish them all the best of success.”