For the last few years, the NBA has consisted not only of talented big men who could chip away at the glass and defend with deft precision but also of sharpshooters who could sink baskets from all over the court.
The league’s insistence on three-pointers has been noted by many NBA insiders and analysts, who say we are living in the golden age of threes.
After rising for 11 consecutive years, NBA teams are actually attempting fewer three point shots (34.1 per game) than they did last year (35.2 per game).
— Jason Timpf (@_JasonLT) February 28, 2023
But NBA writer and host Jason Timpf noted on Twitter that this is changing, little by little.
Timpf says that after rising for the last 11 years, NBA teams are now actually attempting fewer three-pointers (34.1 per game) than they did in the last season (35.2).
That is obviously not a major difference but the fact that the league is now shooting less from deep does say something.
It comes at a time when several of the frontrunners for MVP – Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Joel Embiid – are big men who make their way into the paint more than shoot from the perimeter.
Does this mean that the league is changing once again and the days of raining threes are coming to an end?
That’s unlikely, the three-pointer is here to stay and will remain popular.
But perhaps it will take less prominence in the seasons ahead.
It is important to note that the league’s most well-known three-point pro, Stephen Curry, has been injured multiple times this season, meaning he has put up fewer threes.
Did that have an impact on the stat that Timpf highlighted?
It’ll be interesting to see what the next few months bring: will the NBA keep shooting less and less from downtown?
Are professional players and teams changing their priorities?
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