Bones Hyland, a Nuggets rookie, drew up near the midcourt logo and fired a shot.
The point guard even held his right arm in the air to enjoy a jumper that he knew would go in. As Golden State called timeout, he skipped down the floor, his hand to his ear, taking in the ear-shattering noise.
As the reigning MVP took in the second-quarter spectacle from the bench, teammate Nikola Jokic couldn’t help but smile.
Hyland is the latest up-and-comer to seize the limelight in his first postseason appearance. His long-range effort, which was a tribute to Stephen Curry, the player he grew up idolising, energised his teammates against the Warriors, helped the Nuggets avoid elimination, and most significantly, provided Jokic with some much-needed support.
“He did what he’s been doing the whole year, ”said Jokic, whose team is headed to San Francisco for Game 5 on Wednesday trailing 3-1 in the series. “He gave us energy.”
Hyland, the 26th overall pick in the 2021 draught out of VCU, has been displaying this type of confidence all season. For the Nuggets, he’s been transformed into immediate energy.
Although it may be too late in this series — no NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit — Hyland might provide crucial depth in the future when Jamal Murray (ACL) and Michael Porter Jr. (back) are both recovered.
“Those big shots,” Hyland said, “don’t faze me.”
“He set the foundation for a lot of us players, changing the game with his shooting abilities,” Hyland said after a 126-121 win in Game 4.
“I’ve been doing this since I was a little kid. Steph was on the big platform and he showed it to his highest ability. I always give props to the ones who set the foundation before me. Steph’s a great shooter.”
“He seems like he just enjoys playing basketball,” Curry said. “And obviously he deserved to have some fun with those three big shots. He got a lot of separation, got them over the hump, got the crowd into it.”
Simply the confidence of youth shining through.
“It’s electric, man,” said Monte Morris, who hit five 3-pointers in the third quarter on his way to 24 points. “People pay their (hard-earned) money to come see us play, to see Bones get hot.”
Hyland certainly delivered on his promises. Another postseason newbie making a name for himself.
New Orleans rookie Herbert Jones did the same against the Phoenix Suns and Chris Paul on Sunday, as the Pelicans tied the series at two games apiece. Jones, a second-round choice in the ’21 draught, blocked three shots.
“I’ve never seen a guy this young, this sharp, this smart, this unbothered, unfazed,” teammate CJ McCollum said. “He’s going to be very good not only for us but for this league going forward. He’ll be first-team all-defense as soon as they start watching Pelicans games.”
The Warriors rookie forward Jonathan Kuminga, who came off the bench to score nine points, was overshadowed by Hyland’s effort. Over the previous three games, he had only one point.
“We called on him because we were kind of stuck in mud and he came out there and did a really good job,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said.
Jordan Poole, a postseason newbie, had a rare poor night, scoring 11 points on 3 of 10 shooting. This comes after erupting for 30, 29, and 27 points, respectively.
“As much as we love Jordan, averaging 29, 30 a game, it’s really, really hard,” said Klay Thompson, who had 32 points Sunday, including seven 3-pointers. “We all go through it. We all go through tough shooting nights, or just not feeling like ourselves.”
Hyland is starting to look and feel more like himself, both in terms of shooting and enthusiasm.
“These past couple games, I just wasn’t myself as far as being aggressive and getting shots up, and also making shots,” Hyland said. “I’m going to make big shots and get that energy flowing throughout the whole team. Because it’s very needed.”
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