Jeff Hornacek has long been one of the top 3-point shooters in the NBA.
The Utah Jazz guard set the league record for the most 3-pointers in a game without a miss two seasons ago when he nailed all eight of his attempts against Seattle. He's made better than 40 percent of his shots behind the arc in five separate seasons and connected on a career-best 46.6 percent of his 3-pointers last year, sinking a Jazz record 104 (out of 223).But the Jazz's designated bomber has been off target this year. Hornacek entered Monday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Delta Center with only a 27.9 percent success rate on his threes. The most 3-pointers he'd made in a game this season was two and he had only 29 total.
Even Hornacek's wife, Stacy, was giving him tips during the long-range shooting slump that had lasted nearly half a season.
"When you're struggling, you've just got to keep shooting," he said. "It's a long season. Eventually they'll start to go in."
Unfortunately for the Cavs, they started going in Monday night. Horny went 4-for-4 from downtown - 7-of-8 from the floor overall - to finish with 19 points in Utah's 94-74 victory.
"(Hornacek) definitely had it going tonight," said Karl Malone. "When he's shooting the ball like that outside, it makes you work harder on the inside to free him up for an outside shot."
Hornacek was so hot in the third quarter, in fact, that he earned himself a rest for the entire fourth. He made three of his 3-pointers in the third - two only 20 seconds apart - as the Jazz blew a relatively close game wide open by outscoring the Cavs by 22. As a result, Hornacek and fellow Jazz stars Malone and John Stockton had the rare opportunity to watch the entire final 12 minutes of mop-up time from the bench.
"When Jeff's on it helps our offense tremendously," said Stockton. "He's a great shooter and a great player and he kind of set the tone tonight."