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The Portland Trail Blazers In The NBA’s Three-Point Era

By Chris St. Jean

Nov 24, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) reacts after hitting a three pointer against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second half at the Wells Fargo Center. The Trail Blazers defeated the 76ers 114-104. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 24, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) reacts after hitting a three pointer against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second half at the Wells Fargo Center. The Trail Blazers defeated the 76ers 114-104. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Meyers Leonard knocked down a three-point field goal in the Portland Trail Blazers‘ Wednesday night win against the Minnesota Timberwolves. All in all it was a fairly innocuous play, a meaningless basket in a game that was not very competitive. But what it did signify was the 771st three-pointer that was knocked down by this Blazers team this season.

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That Leonard three set a franchise record, just one season after the Blazers set a franchise record with 770 three-pointers made.  That was just one season after the Blazers set a franchise record with 673 three-pointers made.

Under Terry Stotts, the last three seasons are the only years in which the Blazers made more than 600 three-pointers over the course of 82 games.  They made more than 500 in only four other seasons in their history and three of those were within the last 10 years.

With a total of 786 after Wednesday’s Timberwolves game, three games left in the season, and averaging 10 makes per game, the Blazers are on pace to top 800 made three-pointers.  That’s been done only seven times in the history of the entire NBA before this season.

Statistics via Basketball Reference
Statistics via Basketball Reference /

This phenomenon isn’t specific to the Blazers.  Two other teams, the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors, have actually already topped 800 made three-pointers with plenty of room to spare.  Houston has already set the all-time mark with 894 made three-pointers with four games to go.

Three more teams are, like Portland, on pace to top the 800 club: the Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks, all of which are currently sitting above Portland on the list. This is without a doubt the era of the three-point shot and these teams are all taking advantage of it.

Those six teams (the Philadelphia 76ers as well) are all part of the 2,000 three-point attempt club this year with only 23 other teams all-time.  Houston has taken an astonishing 2,572 three-pointers this season, shattering the all-time record by over 200 and their previous franchise record (last season) by over 400.

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    • All six of these teams set a franchise record in three-point field goals made this season.  All six will make the playoffs and all six won at least 50 games. Atlanta, Cleveland, and Golden State are legitimate NBA title contenders.  Some would argue the Clippers are as well. The Blazers and Rockets’ chances seemed to be dashed not by inability, but by injury between Wesley Matthews, Patrick Beverley and Donatas Motiejunas.

    Of course, the Blazers’ most notable outside shooter was lost in March. At the time of his injury, Wes Matthews was fourth in the NBA in made three-pointers with 173.  He’s actually still ninth on that list, according to NBA.com, despite being out for the last month.

    Damian Lillard is currently sixth in the league with 190 made three-pointers according to NBA.com and he may come up short of his career high which he set last season with 216.

    LaMarcus Aldridge even got in on the act this season. Aldridge had made only 24 three-point shots over the first eight seasons of his career.  This season he knocked down 34, 18 of which came in the first quarter of games.  He had never even taken more than 30 in a season before this year.

    Blazers youngsters C.J. McCollum and Meyers Leonard both set career highs in made three-pointers as well.  McCollum knocked down 52 this season in only 15 minutes per game in the 59 games he got on the court this year.

    Shot Chart via http://peterbeshai.com/buckets
    Shot Chart via http://peterbeshai.com/buckets /

    And that brings it back around to Leonard. Like Aldridge, Leonard is an example of the Blazers frontcourt getting the green light this year.  Leonard made three out of 13 three-point field goals in his first two seasons.  This year he dropped 42 from the outside (good for almost 44 percent), one more than former Three-Point Contest champion and benchmate, Dorell Wright.

    This trend isn’t going away.  The three seasons in which the Blazers have made the most three-point shots in franchise history has been each of the three seasons in which Terry Stotts has coached them.  It’s clearly part of his philosophy and more and more teams around the league are gravitating towards it.

    Despite the gaudy numbers this year, Nicolas Batum, a starter and main contributor to the team, has made only 99 three-pointers on the season.  That’s the lowest total he’s had since his second year in the league. Batum has been reticent to take the long range jumper of late, which means there is room for improvement.

    Next season, don’t be surprised when the Blazers break their franchise record for made three-pointers in a season, yet again.

    Note: All statistics are according to Basketball Reference on April 9th unless otherwise stated.

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