Dylan Harper's three-point shooting is silencing skepticism of Spurs' offense

Things are trending in the right direction for Dylan Harper. In the San Antonio Spurs' home win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, he erupted for a season-high 25 points on 9-for-17 shooting from the floor. Even better, he drained two out of his five three-point attempts, which is a promising sign for this team's offense, especially their trio of guards.

Saturday night wasn't Harper's first impressive showing from beyond the arc. In the Spurs' victory over the Utah Jazz, he drained two of his four long-distance shots. Last week, he hit three of eight against the Dallas Mavericks.

We've been talking about it all offseason: if this team wants to reach its offensive ceiling, the guards have to be consistent long-range shooters. Harper's been stepping up to the plate over the last week, combining his relentless interior attack with a reliable jump shot.

Devin Harper's hitting the threes that the Spurs need him to

The Spurs' guard trifecta of Harper, De'Aaron Fox, and Stephon Castle has been solid early on, and for that to continue, they each must reliably space the floor and hit their threes. They especially need to connect on catch-and-shoot opportunities, as it's the best way to take advantage of this team's ability to demand attention in the paint.

Harper's been great at that. Against the Timberwolves, both of his threes came off the catch. Late in the first quarter, Julian Champagnie grabbed an offensive rebound off a Devin Vassell miss and pitched the ball to the second-year guard, who rattled in a top-of-the-key jumper.

Early in the fourth quarter, Victor Wembanyama secured the ball after rimming out a dunk attempt, drawing in two Minnesota defenders. He immediately saw Harper on the left elbow, swung the rock to him, and it turned into another wide-open three-point bucket.

This team is dangerous once they get into the paint, but they're even more dangerous when they can count on each other to make shots when the ball gets sprayed to the perimeter. Harper's been doing his part over these last few games, and he must keep his foot on the gas.

The Spurs' guard trio is starting to figure it out

Harper hasn't been the only member of the Spurs' guard trifecta that's had impressive moments beyond the arc. Fox is off to an efficient start, draining 36.8% of his looks. So far this season, Castle has four games with three or more makes from downtown.

Their win against the Mavericks was their best collective effort, as they all drained two or more threes. So they've already proved they can have nights when they're all in sync from long distance; now it's on them to consistently show up in this way.

After a rough first set of games, this team is starting to find its stride. The scoring attack is progressing, and Harper's improvement as a shooter is a big reason behind that. But this must become more than an impressive trend over a few games; instead, it has to be a go-to tool in his offensive arsenal.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow