PRODUCT

How impactful are three point makes in NBA games?

Stats and Analytics

Luke Finkbeiner

From the analysis of Stephen Curry and James Harden during their series against each other, I was able to see the impact of the three-point shot on the NBA today. I took the makes and misses of each of the players during each of the six games. Both of these players are considered to be the best three-point shooters on their respective teams the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets. I wanted to see the impact each of these players had on whether or not their teams would win based on their three-point shooting. The Warriors ended up winning the series in six games: four games to two games.

   Stephen Curry shot 77 threes compared to only 37 two point shot attempts. James Harden scored more points in each of the six games and shot with a better percentage than Curry, but still ended up losing the series. Curry shot a below average 28% from behind the three-point arc. James Harden shot a decent 35% from three. Harden took a lot more shots than Curry did because that is what is called upon him with his role on the team, but Curry doesn’t need to shoot as much because he has teammates that can help take the load off of him.

James Harden did score 38 or more points in the two games that the Rockets won and shot his best percentages from three in each of those games. Such as in game three Harden had 41 points and shot 38 percent from three and the Rockets won. Had he shot a better three-point percentage in the other games we would maybe be looking at a different series. Even with Curry shooting at a below average rate the Warriors were still able to win the series. Curry was able to get much-needed help in this series from his teammates Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson to help carry the Warriors into the Western Conference finals. Curry may not have shot well, but he made the shots that he needed to in order to win, but Harden on the other hand, unfortunately, needed to shoot better than the already good percentage from three that he did.