Raptors could be one of 20 teams with record treys
TORONTO — As the records fall and the NBA becomes a paradise for long-range shooters, the decision made by the Raptors brain trust last summer to focus on threepoint shooting is making more and more sense.
The Houston Rockets, the poster franchise for beyond-the-arc shooting, established a new single-season record for three-pointers made on Sunday. They had 1,184 entering Tuesday’s game against Washington, three more than the record they set last season, and they have another four games remaining.
“It’s safe to say a Mike D’Antoni team will be the first team that averages 50 threes in a game,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters last week of his Rockets counterpart.
The Rockets are the extreme example but, while it is a matter of scale and personnel, the Raptors have been equally impressive.
Toronto had already shredded its franchise marks before Tuesday’s game in Cleveland, for made three-pointers (900) and attempts (2,499). The previous marks — 726 makes in 2,060 attempts — came in the 2014-15 season.
It is a trend throughout the league. By the time the regular season ends on April 11, it’s expected that 20 of the league’s 30 teams will have established new franchise records for the most three-pointers made in a season.
The Raptors had a franchise record of 17 consecutive games with at least 10 made three-pointers snapped by Boston last Saturday, but with 56 games of 10 or more makes they are already 19 ahead of last season.
Toronto coach Dwane Casey said before the season began that he’d like to see his team attempt somewhere near 30 threes a game, up from 24 year ago.
The Raptors are going to exceed even his expectations; they were averaging 32.9 per game with six games left in the regular season.
No one has benefitted more from the change in philosophy than the team’s all-star backcourt. DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry have each already topped their career single-season marks in threepointers tried and made, with Lowry having set a new franchise standard.
“The guy works on his three, gets in early in the morning, comes in before the games and gets it up,” Casey said of Lowry. “And I think, too, taking the minutes down some has helped his consistency. He’s not as worn down as he’s been the last few years.”