{"id":81637,"date":"2024-06-17T10:55:54","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T14:55:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=81637"},"modified":"2024-06-17T10:55:54","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T14:55:54","slug":"will-4th-quarter-turn-around-play-of-mavericks-11-year-veteran-tim-hardaway-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/17\/will-4th-quarter-turn-around-play-of-mavericks-11-year-veteran-tim-hardaway-jr\/","title":{"rendered":"Can A Strong 4th Quarter Revive Mavericks 11-Year Veteran’s Play?"},"content":{"rendered":"

For much of the first half of the regular season, Tim Hardaway Jr<\/a>. was one of the league\u2019s best bench scorers. That has been the case for much of his Dallas Mavericks<\/a> tenure. A little less than half his games with the franchise have come as a reserve (169 of 352). He finished ninth<\/a> in Sixth Man of the Year voting this season and fifth<\/a> in 2020-21.<\/p>\n

It was a tale of two halves though for the 32-year-old Hardaway. In 52 games before the All-Star break, he averaged<\/a> 17.3 points on 56.1% true shooting. His 27 outings after the All-Star break saw those numbers dip<\/a> to 8.9 and 48.3% respectively.\u00a0Can one quarter in the NBA Finals get Hardaway Jr. going again?<\/p>\n

Can A Strong 4th Quarter Revive\u00a0Mavericks 11-Year Veteran’s Play?<\/h2>\n

Three-Pointers Aplenty For Tim Hardaway Jr. In Fourth Quarter<\/h3>\n

Hardaway Jr. did not play at all in the first three quarters of Game 4 on Friday<\/a>. Only with the game beyond out of reach was Hardaway Jr. inserted in to play the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

The 11-year veteran attempted seven shots in that fourth quarter. All of them came from behind the arc, and he connected on five of them. That put Hardaway Jr. in a class of two of the best shooters of all time. He is now one of just three players ever<\/a> to connect on five threes in a single quarter in NBA Finals history along with Stephen Curry<\/a> and Ray Allen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd<\/a> then went on to compare him to those two sharpshooters while stating they will need that for Game 5.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cHe looked like Ray [Allen] and Steph [Curry]. So we\u2019re gonna need that here in Game 5\u2026 Hopefully, he\u2019s able to knock down those same shots.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Kidd on Tim Hardaway Jr.’s performance in Game 4 \ud83d\udde3\ufe0f<\/p>\n

(via @danield1214<\/a>) pic.twitter.com\/qAP4AEuyS1<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 16, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n