Houston Rockets: 5 goals for Ryan Anderson in 2017-18
4. Shoot 45 percent or better from 3-point range
Anderson has shot above 40 percent from downtown twice in his career, once as a member of the New Orleans Pelicans in 2014, and last year with the Rockets.
However, the 21st overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft has never shot above the mark of 40.9 percent through his first nine seasons in the league.
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Last year, Anderson finished the season tied for 29th place with George Hill among qualified 3-point field goal percentage leaders, knocking down 204 triples on 506 attempts from deep in the regular season.
While shooting 40 percent from long range is a marquee feat for any marksman, aiming to shoot a career-best 45 percent or better from downtown, could prove to pay major dividends for Anderson and the Rockets this season.
Opposing teams will seek to place the majority of their defensive attention on Chris Paul and James Harden, and as a result, it will provide shooters like Anderson with clean looks more often than not. This is particularly true within critical moments of games, where the two guards will likely seek to get into the teeth of defenses and kick it out to their shooters on drive-and-kicks should Paul or Harden generate double-teams in the paint.
If Anderson is able to hit those type of shots, then he could put himself in prime position to have the best offensive season of his career, and give Houston a significant chance to vault atop of the Western Conference standings in 2018.