Less than five minutes into the opening, Stephen Curry hit two three-pointers, which allowed him to complete the draw and overtaking of Ray Allen. Since then, the Knicks' defense against Curry has been very good, so Curry finally shot 5-of-14 from three-point range, shooting 35.7% of the time below the season average, and after this game, Curry's three-point shooting rate fell below the 40% mark. In fact, 39.9% of the three-point shooting rate is already a pretty good performance for a considerable number of players, perhaps we are used to Curry's 40%+ performance, or we are too demanding of Curry?
With 2,977 three-pointers shot from 43.1 percent from the field in 789 games, we may not be able to appreciate Curry's madness just by looking at the stats, but it's better to look at the performance of the two top three-point shooters in history, Ray Allen and Reggie Miller. Ray Allen shot 2,973 three-pointers in 1,300 games from 40 percent shooting. Miller hit 2,560 games with 39.5 percent of the shots in 1,389 games. In terms of output and quality, Curry has an absolute advantage. What is more worth looking forward to is that Curry's career is still continuing, and the 33-year-old should still have two to three years of peak time, and there will be three years of time to gradually fade from the peak.
Curry's madness began in the 12-13 season, when he shot 272 three-pointers, breaking the single-season record of 269 three-pointers held by Ray Allen. However, Curry's madness has only just begun, reaching its peak in the 15-16 season, when he shot an unprecedented 402 three-point shots that no one has been able to match. Now that the players who entered the league in 2009 have played for more than a dozen seasons, if James Harden does not complete the counterattack in the next few years, Curry will be the first person in the class of 2009.
In Curry's case, it's easy to think of the word crazy, and before him, the three-point shot has never had such an important tactical position. However, there are also many powerful players in Curry's class, Harden, Blake Griffin, and DeMar DeRozan are among the best. There are also some ordinary players who have been in the league for many years, they don't live in the spotlight, they don't have too crazy statistics, but they still rely on their own efforts and hard work on the league stage, such as Patti Mills.
In the Nets' game against the Raptors, Mills became Kevin Durant's right hand, he shot 14 of 10 three-pointers in the game, including 7 three-pointers, 7 of 4 free throws, 30 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal, and in the case of Durant's 5-of-5 shooting in the final quarter, Mills had 16 points and 1 rebound on 5 of 5 three-pointers, helping the Nets drag the game into overtime and eventually win the game. Speaking of Mills, fans will not be unfamiliar with him, he is the main breakup of the Australian men's basketball team, but Mills' NBA career is too bumpy.
In the 2009 draft, Mills was selected by the Blazers with the 25th pick in the second round, and in the first two seasons of his career, Mills played a total of 74 games for the Blazers, all of which were substitutes, and even came to the CBA to pan for gold when he was suspended in 2011. Joining the Spurs has since become a turning point in Mills' career, and he has gradually had a stable playing time, and his excellent three-point performance has also made Mills the key to the Spurs' 2014 championship. With the Spurs rebuilding, Mills joined the Nets in the 2021 offseason for $12.07 million for two years.
The Nets have no shortage of super scorers, durant, Harden and LaMarcus Aldridge are all excellent players, so Mills' performance space is not too large, and for most of the time, Mills can only become a supporting role. But years of tinkering have calmed Mills' mind, and he knows how to play around his star. Low-key and pragmatic are mills' biggest characteristics, this season he can average 13.3 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, shooting 44.9% from the field, 44.7% from three-point range, and averaging 3.2 three-pointers per game, all of which are extremely good performances.
In the side of Durant, Harden and other players, Mills actually has not difficult to do, running position, opening space, these are actually easy for Mills. He's averaged 5.2 three-pointers per game this season, shooting 45.3 percent from the field, what's the level of that in the league? As of December 15, Beijing time, a total of 23 players in the league have averaged 5+ three-point shots per game, and Mills ranks third in shooting, behind Joe Harris's 46.9% and Luke Kennard's 46.2%.
In fact, Mills is a player with excellent tactical execution and tactical literacy, his physical talent is not too obvious, and even a little inferior, but Mills is good enough in the execution of tactics, he will become the best supporting role around Durant and others. And this supporting role is not simple, once the team needs it, Mills will definitely not be soft.
Text/Duncan's laugh