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I’m not sure I’ve laughed harder this week than reading about Mikal Bridges saying he and Tom Thibodeau had a conversation about too many minutes, and then, two paragraphs later, the Knicks coach saying they never talked about it.
4,000 3-pointers
Chef Curry cooks up new 3-point milestone
Entering Thursday’s game against the Kings, Warriors legend Steph Curry needed to make two 3-pointers to push his regular-season total to 4,000 for his illustrious career. It’s a number that doesn’t even make sense. You know around here we believe in combining regular season and playoff totals, but 4,000 in the regular season alone is still an absurd figure to fathom. With all of the attention on Curry going into the night, the Warriors were fine taking their time to get him those two 3-pointers.
As our friend Zena Keita mentioned on blueSky, it was hilarious the game started with Draymond Green, of all people, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers. Curry made No. 3,999 with 5:35 left in the first quarter. Then, with 8:19 left in the third period, he hit his 4,000th regular-season triple. He had a modest game in the 130-104 victory over the Kings, finishing with just 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting, making 2 of 5 from deep and playing only 30 minutes. The Warriors (38-28) improved to 13-1 with Jimmy Butler in the lineup, continuing to transform themselves from a Play-In hopeful to a true contender in the West.
Thinking about Curry’s accomplishment, the mutation of the 3-pointer can mostly be attributed to him. It was already growing as a weapon in the NBA, but Curry’s ascension as the greatest shooter we’ve ever seen changed the game in a way I’m not sure we’ll ever see again.
The 3-point line was introduced to the NBA in the 1979-80 season after being popularized in the ABA. It grew slowly, but as you look at the graph below, every five years with the 3-point line shows a very interesting bit of growth. Then, after Curry joined the league in 2009 and became an icon, he accumulated a number of makes that almost doesn’t make sense.
James Harden, who entered the NBA the same season as Curry, has also put up a tremendous amount of 3-pointers over the last decade. And yet he’s 873 behind Curry. That’s the kind of pacing that’s just impossible to keep up with when it comes to being a 3-point peer of the best shooter of all time.
Dale Ellis (played 1983-00) held strong in the race for most ever for a long time. Then, Reggie Miller (1987-2005) surpassed him and held strong until Ray Allen (1996-2014) made his mark. With the way 3-pointers are shot today, maybe we should assume someone will catch Curry some day, but here’s the thing: He’s not done. The ridiculous thing to consider is Curry reaching 5,000 regular-season 3s is absolutely on the table (The No Dunks crew actually pondered the idea in today’s episode). It might take him three more seasons, when he’ll turn 40 by then.
And, just in case you were curious, Curry has 4,618 3s when you add in his postseason makes. Harden is 1,073 behind that number in sole position of second place.
More from yesterday’s NBA action
Bucks 126 (37-28), Lakers 106 (40-24): Two games without LeBron James and two losses for the Lakers. Luka Dončić was great as he finished with 45 points and 11 rebounds, making 14 of 27 from the field. He also had just three assists and six turnovers. The Bucks pretty much dominated them for three quarters before cruising to victory. Four different players had at least 22 points as Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way with 24 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. The Lakers are neck-and-neck with Houston (41-25) for the No. 4 seed in the West. The Bucks are a half-game ahead of the Pacers (36-28) for fourth in the East.
Wizards 129 (14-51), Pistons 125 (37-30): Buddy, I’m just as confused as you are. I was prepared to write a nice little ditty about how different these teams are from how similar they were a year ago. And then, the Wizards lit the Pistons up for 20 3-pointers, led by Alex Sarr’s 19 points. Seven Wizards were in double figures. Cade Cunningham had 38 points, 10 assists and was 20 of 21 from the free-throw line. This is a frustrating loss for the Pistons. They’re a half-game behind Indiana for fifth.
Bulls 116 (28-38), Nets 110 (22-44): Coby White had a game-high 31 points. In the fourth quarter, the Bulls outscored the Nets 34-18 to take control of the game and get the win. Cam Thomas had 24 points and 10 assists for Brooklyn.
Magic 113 (31-36), Pelicans 93 (18-49): Paolo Banchero had 34, Franz Wagner added 27 and the Magic were up by as many as 36 points in the third quarter. We move on!
The Last 24
Duke phenom could be out with untimely injury
🩼 Be careful! Cooper Flagg needed a wheelchair after hurting his ankle. Will he be back for March Madness?
🏀 Awards Watch. We’ve seen this type of Rookie of the Year race before. Will history repeat?
🩺 Season over. De’Aaron Fox is undergoing season-ending surgery on his pinkie. Spurs might tank now.
🏀 On the Brink. Los Angeles Sparks star Cameron Brink is a budding WNBA star. And more than a player.
🏀 Incredible story. Former NBA player Ryan Gomes has been on a mission since losing his friend to cardiac arrest. He’s changing and saving lives.
📺 Don’t miss this game tonight. Cavaliers (55-10) at Grizzlies (42-24), 8 p.m. ET on League Pass (get it here!). Memphis is trying to end the 15-game win streak for Cleveland.
The Misery Index
These five teams have way too much TMI
We’re introducing something on The Athletic today called The Misery Index! Or TMI for short. TMI is something nobody wants to have because it just makes things painful and awkward for everybody else. The Misery Index is pretty scientific in how we measure the level of frustration a fan base is going through with its beloved franchise. How do we calculate it? A lot of factors and science go into it. Think of the highest number of super computers you can fit into a standard warehouse. Now triple it! That’s what we did, maybe!
Here are the key variables: figuring out how this season is going, if it’s breaking off from previously successful seasons, whether a trade or a missed player is causing the misery (I’m sorry, Dallas), does a franchise have promising young players, if there’s a coach in the way of success and measuring any hope in the immediate future, plus more!
Five teams were measured for it. I left out the Bulls because they’re finally embracing a youth movement, and I didn’t have it in me to measure the Hornets. Here are a few thoughts from each team’s TMI:
Mavericks, 69/80 – The worst part about the misery at this point is you likely have to throw next season out the window because of Kyrie Irving’s injury.
Suns, 63.5/80 – Mike Budenholzer doesn’t appear to be the answer, but you can’t keep firing coaches after one year.
76ers, 61/80 – The most frustrating thing to do is practice the same thing over again while expecting the 76ers to be healthy.
Pelicans, 57/80 – We just want to see Zion Williamson consistently play so the misery will dissipate.
Wizards, 50/80 – They actually have a lot of nice young players to give a little hope!
I encourage you to check out the scores!
Beef Court
Detroit Pistons v. Shaquille O’Neal
The Big Fella Shaquille O’Neal – a.k.a. The Big Diesel, a.k.a. The Big Shaqtus, a.k.a. The Big Defendant – stepped in it on television this week. While trying to complement the Pistons during a highlight package on TNT’s Tuesday night broadcast, Shaq misspoke by saying Chauncey Billups is doing a great job as Detroit’s coach. It was a really nice complement … except for one problem. Billups is the coach of the Trail Blazers (28-39). Whoops!
Shaq either misspoke or he simply does not pay enough attention to either Detroit or Portland to know where Billups is coaching. He was correct that Billups is doing a good job, though! Candace Parker called him out on it, and Shaq decided to double down a little and throw a bit of shade toward the Pistons. This is his quote:
“Chauncey’s the coach, right? (Informed it’s J.B. Bickerstaff) Bickerstaff! That’s what I meant. First of all, I don’t watch Detroit. How about that booboo? I don’t watch ‘em. I messed up. I made a mistake. Whoopy-freaking-do, I made a mistake.”
It’s not that bad, but it’s not great either. The internet ran with it because there is a sector of people on social media who are mad when the Inside the NBA crew doesn’t know players or coaches in the league. It led to a little online beef thrown from the Pistons’ side of it, and that means we need to take this to Beef Court. We’ll hear both sides before levying a verdict.
The case for Shaq: I genuinely believe a lot of these national TV guys don’t have a ton of time or bandwidth to watch everybody. It’s kind of the irony of the position, especially when you factor in how many businesses and commitments Shaq has. He can only spend so much time watching basketball, and it seems like those national TV guys end up being relegated to watching the national TV games. Detroit has had one game on ESPN and three on NBA TV. That’s it.
Shaq is likely to focus on the best teams, and while the Pistons have been good, they aren’t one of the best. There does seem to be an ecosystem to earning that distinction, as we’ve seen many times.
The case for the Pistons: The Pistons are one of the best stories in the NBA! They won 14 games a season ago and basically have the same team. And they’re on pace to win 45 games. But that’s not the real case here. The real case is what the Pistons posted on social media.
Throw the towel! There is no rebuttal to this. Shaq already had an uphill battle here. My goodness.
The verdict: As much as this court loves Shaq, we have to rule in favor of the Pistons. They’re good this season, have been fun and kind of cooked Shaq … again.
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(Top photo: D. Ross Cameron / Imagn Images )
