Nuggets' Bones Hyland Reveals Motivation Behind Big Performance vs. Sixers

Before he was donning a Denver Nuggets uniform in the NBA, Nah'Shon "Bones" Hyland was a four-star recruit coming out of Middletown, Delaware. Although he

Before he was donning a Denver Nuggets uniform in the NBA, Nah'Shon "Bones" Hyland was a four-star recruit coming out of Middletown, Delaware.

Although he wasn't from the City of Brotherly Love, the Philadelphia 76ers were the closest professional team to him. Therefore, when he played the Sixers at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philly for the first time in his professional career on Monday night, Hyland made sure he did his homecoming right.

According to DNVR Sports' Harrison Wind, Hyland was expected to have "at least" 100 family, friends, and fans in attendance to see the rookie face the Sixers live. 

After Monday's game, Hyland projected that number to be a lot higher.

"Man, I probably had like 600, 700 people here," the young guard said. "It probably was way more than that. Just the people I was seeing, it was so many."

There was a lot of pressure on Hyland to ball out, considering the circumstances, and he didn't disappoint those who came to see him.

Heading into Monday's game, Hyland averaged eight points per game while draining 38-percent of his shots from the field and 36-percent of his threes. The young guard boosted those numbers on Monday as he put on a show for the home crowd.

The Motivation Behind Bones' Performance

 "I just [wanted] to come back to my hometown, close to my city, it's 30 minutes away and put on a show here. That's a dream come true to me," Hyland said following the game. "I always say I'm the kid who wants to show the next kid in the city that this can be you in my position. Growing up, I never had somebody who can show me the ropes and that guidance. So, I want to be that guidance for the younger youth and keep leading and keep showing them that this can be done on this stage as well."

In the first quarter of action on Monday, Hyland started off quiet. During his four-minute shift, he drained one shot for two points. When he appeared on the court for nearly nine minutes in the second quarter, the rookie got it going.

Knocking down two of his four field-goal attempts and draining three of his five free throws, Hyland collected seven points before halftime. Although he led Denver's bench with nine points through two quarters, he didn't have much of an impact on his team as he went scoreless in the third quarter.

Despite starting the second half slow, the Nuggets never shied away from Hyland. Their decision to stick with him paid off as he became key to their fourth-quarter run and helped put the 76ers away once and for all.

"I just knew I was gonna get hot and hit a couple of bombs," he said. "I just kept saying to myself, 'I know I'm gonna hit it, I know I'm gonna hit it.' And I got two opportunities where I was wide open. I hit one, and then there was one in transition. I'm like, 'I'm letting this fly.' And I let it fly, and it was bottoms."

Hyland went 4-6 from the field, with all of his makes coming from beyond the arc in the final quarter. He helped the Nuggets rally and outscore the Sixers 33-22 with a team-high of 12 points in the final quarter. In the end, Hyland finished the game with 21 points in 31 minutes off the bench as Denver defeated Philly 114-110.

"I let the crowd know that I'm here," Hyland finished. "That was just a great, fun moment. That was a great, fun experience with my teammates. Just to be here in Philadelphia to do that."

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.