Former Bountiful High and Utah State star Sam Merrill played in just four NBA games in his young career for the Milwaukee Bucks, but he has already set an NBA historical record.
On Tuesday night, while the Bucks played against the Miami Heat, Merrill hit Milwaukee’s 28th 3-point game, which was a new mark for most of the three ever made by a team in a single competition, topping 27 hitting the Houston Rockets the Phoenix Suns in April last year.
With 6:10 left in the game Tuesday night, Merrill stopped a few feet behind the 3-point line, got up and hit the kick. It was his only attempt at shooting in the competition, although he played nine minutes in the fourth quarter, as Bucks had the game in hand and ultimately won by an impressive 47 points.
Milwaukee made another 3 on the night, a shot from Bryn Forbes, to set the new all-time mark at 29.
The 60th pick of the NBA draft last month, Merrill has thrown most of the minutes in the trash so far for the Bucks, although he has won in every game so far. In addition, he is perfect beyond the arc, having made all four attempts (which account for all of his 12 points so far).
He missed a chance on Christmas day against the Golden State Warriors.
Altogether, Merrill has played 29 minutes this season. Beside the 12 points, he added eight rebounds, seven assists and a steal.