With the Denver Nuggets' season on the line, rookie guard Bones Hyland came to play. Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors were looking to sweep the Nuggets out of the NBA playoffs but Hyland had other ideas. He stepped up to help the Nuggets win 126-121 and save Denver from elimination.
Hyland came into Game 4 averaging just 9.0 points and 2.3 assists per game in the playoffs. With the Nuggets down 3-0 in the first-round series, he recorded 15 points and a team-high seven assists off the bench. Most of his points came in the second quarter, where he sunk three huge triples.
Bones Hyland !!
🦴🦴11 PTS, 3-4 3PM #NBASundays pic.twitter.com/zG65RHI7l3
— NBA France (@NBAFRANCE) April 24, 2022
Hyland set a shooting record in front of the greatest shooter in basketball history. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Hyland became the first player in 25 years to sink three shots from that deep in a single quarter. Only Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard did what the Nuggets rookie did in an entire postseason game.
Bones Hyland is the first player over the last 25 postseasons with three 30-footers in a single quarter.
Just two other players have recorded three 30-footers in a single playoff game over the last 25 years:
– Damian Lillard (2x)
– Kevin Durant pic.twitter.com/1O0JMmalT7— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 24, 2022
There are few shooting recoreds that don't have the name Stephen Curry on top. Hyland found one that he hadn't locked up and beat him to it. The Nuggets rookie had himself a day just when Denver needed it most.
The Nuggets drafted Hyland 26th overall in last year's draft. The 21-year-old VCU product averaged 10.1 points, 2.8 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game while shooting 36.6 percent from deep.
Against the Warriors the three-headed monster of perimeter shooters, it was the shooting of Bones Hyland that saved the day for Denver, who lived to see another NBA playoffs day.
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