Finding the range a gold mine
Hitting 3-pointers at blistering clip a good way to keep the wins coming
LOS ANGELES — The numbers of 3-pointers that the Rockets launch has been staggering, even unprecedented, for years. The topic seems very 2016 (if not 2015 or ’14). This year is different.
As much as the Rockets have been known for the numbers of 3s they take, they have rolled through the past month of games on the strength of the 3-pointers they regularly make. Taking so many 3s was good, with the Rockets putting up enough they didn’t have to hit a great percentage. Making them has been better — and made them nearly unbeatable. ‘We’re at that pinnacle’
When the Rockets began November, they had, as usual, made more 3-pointers than any team. But only three teams had a worse 3-point shooting percentage, with the Rockets only a few missed shots removed from last place. Only two teams even attempted as many 3s as the Rockets missed.
In November, they had the NBA’s fourth-best shooting percentage from beyond the 3-point line, just 1.3 percentage points from the top spot, while scoring 15 more points per game from behind the arc than any other team.
“It’s crazy,” Rockets forward Ryan Anderson said. “In this day and age, you have to be a 3-point shooting team to keep up with the best in the NBA. A lot of teams are trying to keep up with Golden State. Now, I feel we’re at that pinnacle. It’s really tough to beat us when we’re shooting it well like that. I don’t know how you guard us.”
The Rockets made 40 percent of their 3-pointers in November. Since the start of last season, they are 27-1 when making at least 40 percent of their 3s. In wins this season, the Rockets are making 37.9 percent from beyond the arc; 29.6 percent in their four losses.
All that could be tested Sunday with the Los Angeles Lakers holding teams to 33 percent shooting from deep, ranking second in 3-point defense in the NBA. The Rockets will fire away, regardless. They take so many more than any team ever has — averaging 44.4 attempts per game to easily top last season’s recordsetting 40.3 — that to beat them when making just a high percentage would be, D’Antoni said, “pretty tough.”
“If we hit 40 percent, that would be a magic number to me,” he said. “With our defense, if we don’t allow the other team to get to 100 points, that’s a magic number. On both fronts, that’s what we’re trying to get more consistent.”
That is part of what has made the 3-point shooting so remarkable. While Anderson, Trevor Ariza and James Harden lit up November, Eric Gordon slumped and Chris Paul cooled off after a fast start.
“We still can get a whole lot better,” Paul said. “Our offense can get a little more crisp. We still haven’t been making shots. A few guys have. We haven’t really haven’t had one of those hot nights.”
When determining if the turnaround is from shooting better or getting better shots, the Rockets were certain of the answer. They have shot so well from deep it could only be from both.
“Legs are better, stamina’s better, we’re getting better shots, more comfortable, we have another point guard on the floor at all times, if not two,” D’Antoni said. “There’s just a lot of factors.”
D’Antoni said familiarity with the offense from the first to second year has helped, with newcomers Luc Mbah a Moute and P.J. Tucker fitting into a system already in place. Paul’s return has been seamless, with the Rockets sinking 42.6 percent of their 3s since.
“Chris has helped a ton,” Anderson said. “Chris gives you passes right on the money. It’s taken some pressure off James. He doesn’t have to make every play every time down the court. We’re just shooting it well, too. We’re in a good rhythm, finding good shots for each other. A lot of them are wide-open looks.” Confidence in each other
Anderson and Ariza, however, said it is about more than rounding into form. Coaches and teammates not only expect open shots to be taken, they don’t criticize an occasional bad shot, never mind one that happens to miss.
“We stay with what we do,” said Ariza, who had made 24.4 percent of his shots before November and 49.6 percent since. “The biggest thing for us, when we struggle for a couple games, as individuals and as competitors, with the shooters we have, we … know everything’s going to average out. We struggled early. I struggled. When you have teammates who are really good teammates, that want to see you do well, it’s hard to lose confidence here.
“You can go on a streak not making shots, but it’s hard to lose confidence on a team like we have.”
With that, Ariza turned, sank a 3-pointer and headed to the center of the court for the start of practice.