After a slow start to his season, Pat Connaughton came alive over the past week. The guarantee with Connaughton lately is that when he does damage, he prefers to do so from behind the 3-point line. In his three most recent games, all but three of his 14 field-goal attempts came from that far out, and those were his only field goals that went through the hoop. He made eight of them while missing a pair of close shots and one perimeter shot.
Though Connaughton’s Milwaukee Bucks blew out the Miami Heat by 47 points Dec. 29, he shot only 1 of 3 in a season-low 12 minutes, though he also had three assists for the game. The Bucks played the Heat again the next night, and this time, he was 4 of 6, all from behind the 3-point line, to set his scoring high of the season thus far at 12. His hot streak continued New Year’s Day against the Chicago Bulls, during which he made all three of his 3-point attempts and knocked down his first two free throws of the season in an 11-point, five-rebound performance. His 8.7 scoring average during the week bumped his season average to 6.3, and he’s now at an even 50.0 percent from 3-point range in this young season.