The young Denver Nuggets bench gives the team a spark against Pacers

Denver Nuggets scouting report vs Indiana: Bones Hyland

Bones Hyland is becoming a weapon right before our very eyes. He looks like he has the potential to be the sixth man of the future, even when Jamal Murray comes back. He possesses that “it“ factor that only some players have. He plays with swagger and confidence and has a quick scoring ability that every team is looking to have off the bench.

This is very impressive considering he is a rookie fighting for a spot in the rotation with veteran guards Austin Rivers and Facundo Campazzo. He has a real connection with the team, he provides a spark whenever he enters the game and fans love to give him that confidence.

In his ten minutes in the first half, he knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and dished out four assists. He seems to have a real connection with Zeke Nnaji. The two of them ran the pick-and-roll to perfection with Hyland displaying supreme control in his decision making.

He operated the pick-and-roll with confidence and made the right decisions on when to attack the rim and draw the attention of a second defender. He had a tight wrap around pass that he slipped past Domatas Sabonis after getting trapped in the pick-and-roll.

He’s making high level plays such as keeping his defender on his back on the screen actions, forcing a two-on-one opportunity every time.

He is fearless when attacking the bucket and really puts pressure on the defense by getting to the rim. His awareness on where that second defender is coming from allows him to pick up easy assists. He got to the line a good amount in his limited minutes and put pressure on the Pacer bigs in the lane.

Bones is playing like a veteran with the way he controls himself in all areas. It is even showing up in his situational defense. On the last possession of the game, he fouled as the Nuggets were up three and forced the Pacers to draw up another play to get a shot to win the game. He finished the game with a very solid stat line of 12 points, three rebounds, and four assists in 22 minutes.