Three for all: Bucks become latest team to set a 3-point mark
The best 3-point shooter who ever lived, at least in terms of volume, is Ray Allen. Boston used to have him. Milwaukee used to have him. And he doesn’t figure into either franchise’s greatest single-game 3-point barrage.
With NBA records being set from 3-point range this season — Golden State’s Klay Thompson has already busted the mark for 3s in a game with 14, one more than the standard his fellow Warriors sharpshooter Stephen Curry established in 2016, the league is well on its way to making more shots from beyond the arc than ever before.
The record, set last season, is 25,807. The NBA is on pace this season to make about 27,300 shots from 3-point land.
Now, not even three full weeks into this season, five teams have broken their own franchise record for 3s in a game. The most recent entry into that club was Milwaukee, which connected on 22 3s — on 56 tries, as opposed to 39 from inside the arc — in its 144-109 win over Sacramento on Sunday. The Bucks used 13 players, with everyone trying at least one shot from 3-point range and 11 connecting on at least one triple.
It was the second time this season the Bucks tried more 3s than 2s.
Number of times in Bucks history that happened before this season? Zero.
“We’ll just hopefully keep pushing that record, whatever it is,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “See if we can get more. ... Good for us to know that we’re pushing that envelope and we want to be great behind that 3-point line.”
The Bucks aren’t alone in their quest for 3-point greatness.
Boston, which has had 3-point stars like Larry Bird, Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker and Allen in its rich history, made a team-record 24 3-pointers last week against the Bucks. The Celtics came into this season with 19 3s in a game being their franchise mark; they’ve made 19 or more twice already this season.
“We took what the defense gave us,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said after the barrage of 24 3s.