Even with the Nuggets’ revamped depth, they’ve still struggled to shoot threes at a high volume. The lack of threes has been keeping the offense from reaching its ceiling, and Tim Hardaway Jr. seemed to get the message, supplying exactly what the doctor ordered on Saturday night with 23 points on 7-11 shooting from long distance.
THJ’s three-point barrage helped spark a much-needed Nuggets victory, 130-112 over the Suns in Phoenix. Denver has been hurting since losing Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun to injuries within days of each other.
They’ve lost three straight home games, including a blown 18-point second-half lead to the Spurs on Friday night in NBA Cup play. The Nuggets badly wanted to wash that bad taste out of their mouth and get back in the win column, but knew it would be tricky with the quick turnaround on Friday in Phoenix.
They needed someone to step up, and they needed to swing the three-point math in their favor, and that’s what they did. Hardaway’s seven threes were absolutely massive, and it helped fuel a great effort as the team knocked down 22 threes on the night.
Hardaway Jr. hit more than half of the team’s season average by himself, as they’ve hit just 12.9 threes per game, a number they’d love to improve. Nights like this from THJ will certainly help and will get them much closer to the Warriors’ league-leading 16.1 made three-pointers per game.
Nuggets’ three-point shooting can set them apart
The Nuggets don’t need to be an elite three-point shooting team to have an elite offense, but it couldn’t hurt. They are third in the league in three-point percentage, despite being bottom 10 in attempts and makes.
This year especially, they’ve got the horses. More than ever before, Denver has the guys to get these looks up. We’ve seen Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon transform into elite three-point shooters, and we know Jamal Murray can snipe them with the best of them.
Bruce Brown, Peyton Watson, and Christian Braun will likely never be considered sharpshooters, but they can bury open shots, and they should be encouraged to let it fly with confidence when defenses give them too much room.
Then you’ve got Cam Johnson and Hardaway Jr., who were essentially brought in to space the floor and knock down threes. They are capable of bringing more to the table, but that’s the elite skill they can supply that will elevate this Nuggets offense to a height it hasn’t quite been able to reach in past years.
We got a small taste of it on Saturday night, and we got instant gratitude. The Nuggets, at least for now, are back to their winning ways, and they can’t thank the three-point shot.