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A16 SPORTS
Wednesday 26 February 2025
The 2-point shot is less and less utilized in the NBA.

The debate about whether that’s good rages on

By TIM REYNOLDS season and the result was
AP Basketball Writer an NBA championship. It
The NBA is on the cusp of was, at times, impossible to
accomplishing something guard. Golden State rode
that it hasn’t seen before. the brilliance of Curry and
The jury’s still out on wheth- Klay Thompson to four NBA
er it’s a good thing. titles in their years as the
With about seven weeks Warriors’ “Splash Brothers,”
left in the season, 2-point a duo that helped usher
shots are accounting for in a new era of 3-point re-
49% of scoring. And if that liance. And the math is
stat holds up there’s no simple: shooting 40% on 3s
indication that it won’t gets you more points per
this will be the first season attempt than shooting 50%
in which 2-pointers make on 2s does.
up less than half of the “Right now, I think the de-
league’s point production. fense has to catch up and
The current breakdown: a maybe NBA teams will
record-low 49% of scoring shoot less 3s,” San Antonio
comes from 2-pointers, a re- star Victor Wembanyama
cord-high 36% comes from said at the All-Star break,
3-pointers, and a near-re- before he was shut down
cord-low 15% comes from for the year with deep vein
the foul line. Those numbers Golden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski (2) shoots a 3-point basket next to Dallas thrombosis in his right shoul-
are just more proof of how Mavericks forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper (8) during the second half of an NBA basketball der. “But analytics back it
game Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, in San Francisco.
the 3-point shot continues Associated Press up, so it makes sense.”
permeating the game, and Wembanyama was aver-
that’s why plenty of people This isn’t a new phenom- defending NBA champions But, you know, the way we aging 8.8 3-point tries per
are wondering aloud if the enon. are clearly more reliant on play works for us. So, we game this season, the most
league has a real problem Barring some sort of ma- the shot than anyone else, play to our strengths.” of any center in the league,
on its hands. jor shift in how the game is with 46% of their points this The Celtics are the only and his 403 attempts on
“I don’t have any problem played over the next seven season coming from be- franchise in NBA history to the season from beyond
with guys and teams shoot- weeks, the league is on yond the arc. They’ll almost have eight different players the arc is still more enter-
ing a lot of 3s,” said Golden pace to break the record certainly become only the make 100 3s in a season; ing this week than some of
State’s Stephen Curry, the for 3-pointers in a season third team in NBA history to they’ve done it in each of the game’s best shooters a
league’s all-time leader in (it’ll be the 15th consecu- finish a season with more the last two seasons and list of players that includes
3-pointers and someone tive season in which the 3s- points from 3s than 2s, join- are on pace to do it again Phoenix’s Devin Booker, the
closing in on 4,000 such per-game record falls) and ing the 2018-19 Houston this year. Los Angeles Lakers’ Austin
makes for his regular-sea- 3-pointers attempted in a Rockets and 2020-21 Utah For them, the 3-pointer is Reaves and Miami’s Dun-
son career. “Obviously, season (a new mark will be Jazz. the golden ticket; they’re can Robinson.
that’s the way that I play, set there for the 19th time in “Everybody can’t play the 33-6 this season when they But the numbers say it’s a
and I love that factor in the the last 22 seasons). same way,” Celtics All- make at least 17 3s, and good shot. So, Wemban-
game. But you’ve also got Boston is leading the 3-point Star forward and two-time just 8-10 when they don’t yama took them. A lot of
to put the work in behind assault this year, though Olympic gold medalist Jay- make that many. them. The Spurs, for years,
the scenes to take full ad- the Celtics are hardly the son Tatum said. “You’ve got They had five 3-point shoot- were a team that didn’t pri-
vantage of it.” only 3-happy team. But the to have the right personnel. ers on the floor together last oritize the 3-pointer. q

Bryce Harper takes his love for the Phillie Phanatic to the next

level with a tattoo

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Bryce Harper’s and a headband featuring the large, fur-
love for the Phillie Phanatic runs skin deep. ry, green bird-type creature and wielded
Literally. a Phanatic-themed bat while facing the
The Phillies star arrived at spring training New York Mets in London last summer.
sporting a tattoo on his right arm of the Harper told MLB.com he had wanted to
team’s iconic mascot zooming around do something to honor the Phanatic for
on an all-terrain vehicle. a while.
Harper worked with Utah-based tattoo “I just love Philly,” Harper said. “I love the
artist Hannah Matthews on the fine-line Phanatic. It’s just fun.”
design. Matthews featured her session The placement of the tattoo is intentional.
with Harper on her Instagram page and Harper told MLB.com the idea is the Pha-
included a close-up for Harper’s latest ink, natic will be following the flight of the ball
located on the outside of his right arm just when it leaves the left-handed Harper’s
above the wrist. bat.
Philadelphia Phillies’ Bryce Harper makes a selfie with the The two-time National League MVP and “People can kind of see that as I swing,”
team mascot, the Phillie Phanatic, during a Major League eight-time All-Star has regularly yucked Harper said.
Baseball news conference, April 16, 2019, on Independence
Mall in Philadelphia. it up with the Phanatic since signing with “Him driving off my arm, I thought it looked
Associated Press the Phillies in 2019. Harper sported cleats pretty cool.”q