@NBACrouse’s Notebook: Wizards Joining the NBA’s 3-Point Revolution
A Wild Wednesday In Washington
Thousands of people remained in Capital One Arena after the Washington Wizards’ one-point loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, watching the Washington Nationals take on the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the World Series. Wizards players and staff, media members and fans shared a unique experience as they watched the jumbotron inside the arena and the city brought home another championship. For a moment, nearly everyone in the building forgot about the offensive explosion (and possible James Harden flop) that occurred there just an hour prior.
Wednesday’s 159-158 win by the Rockets was the third-highest-scoring non-overtime game in NBA history. Harden (59 points) and Bradley Beal (46 points) battled back and forth in an offensive barrage that saw each team go wild from behind the arc. Houston attempted 54 triples and made 23 of them (for context, the San Antonio Spurs are last in the league with 23.7 attempted threes per game), and Washington set a franchise record with 20 makes from behind the arc on 36 attempts.
“I don’t know if we allowed it or if they just did it. Sometimes it’s a little bit of both. They were shooting. My gosh, everybody was just raising up,” Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni said after the game.
Washington’s commitment to scoring and the three-pointer is not an accident. The team revamped its front office this summer, emphasizing a collaborative, data-driven approach with many perspectives. Among the additions were former Cleveland Browns general manager Sashi Brown and Dean “Godfather of Basketball Analytics” Oliver, the latter of whom took on an unfamiliar role with the club: coaching.
“The most analytical thing I can say is, we’re gonna adapt,” Oliver recently told Fred Katz of The Athletic. “‘Moneyball’ is about finding the undervalued strategy. The undervalued strategy one night may be a little bit different from the next night. … My thing with rules of thumb is we call them that for a reason. Thumbs are very useful. Humans have them. A lot of animals don’t have them. But if you use them all the time and you’re all thumbs, you’re clumsy. So, we’re not gonna be all rules of thumb. We’ve got some, but we’re gonna be adapting.”
Applying analytics in basketball is about way more than just emphasizing the triple, though shots beyond the arc are a smart starting point. The Wizards prioritized frontcourt shooting during the offseason, adding Davis Bertans (thank you, Marcus Morris) and Moritz Wagner via trades and working with Thomas Bryant to become more efficient from long range.
The results? Every Wizards rotation player is on pace to set a career high in three-pointers attempted per game.
Beal and Bertans are smashing their respective high-water marks from behind the arc. Troy Brown Jr. and Wagner have seen their attempts per 36 minutes increase dramatically from their rookie years. Bryant is doing his best Brook Lopez impression, while Rui Hachimara has a neon-green light despite just one college season with respectable shooting numbers from deep.
Isaac Bonga has doubled his rookie output from long range. Ish Smith has already taken 12 triples. Isaiah Thomas has launched 14 threes in his two games with the club.
Yes, the small-sample-size police are going to issue me a citation. But the game plan in Washington is clear, and it would be an upset if the franchise doesn’t end up among the leaders in three-point attempts at the end of the season.
Wednesday night’s thriller likely won’t be the last offensive barrage in D.C., though it will be the only one with a World Series victory tacked onto the end of the proceedings.
Lists, Graphs and Random Facts
Top 10 Performers on New Teams (via TPA)
- Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn Nets
- Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles Clippers
- Aron Baynes, Phoenix Suns
- Russell Westbrook, Houston Rockets
- Malcolm Brogdon, Indiana Pacers
- Al Horford, Philadelphia 76ers
- Kemba Walker, Boston Celtics
- Dwight Howard, Los Angeles Lakers
- Delon Wright, Dallas Mavericks
- Bojan Bogdanovic, Utah Jazz
Surely, Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving were expected to have a major impact on their new squads. But how many people expected Aron Baynes to be among the top contributors early in the season?
The 32-year-old center was salary-dumped to Phoenix this summer (along with a first-rounder), and it wasn’t certain how many minutes he’d get. Deandre Ayton’s suspension threw a wrench in the Suns’ plans, and Baynes’ presence has helped propel the team to its surprising start.
Philadelphia Defenders
It turns out the Sixers are good on defense!
Philadelphia trails only the Utah Jazz in defensive rating, and Tobias Harris appears to be the “weakest” link in the starting unit with 10.74 defensive points saved. The team has five players with more DPS, and no other team has more than two.
Things To Watch
- Isaiah Thomas scored 17 points and dished out 10 assists against the Rockets on Wednesday, marking his first regular-season double-double since Jan. 24, 2017, back when he was with the Boston Celtics. Coincidentally, that game was against the Wizards.
- Thomas’ hip injury kept him down, but the point guard says his mini-resurgence is about the opportunity he’s receiving. As he stated after the loss to Houston: “Like I always said, if I get the opportunity like I did in Boston, I’d do the same thing. The trades I’ve been in, I haven’t had this same opportunity. That’s the only reason that you haven’t seen me play well. I’m just going to continue to work hard, continue to do what I can to win games here. The Wizards are giving me a great opportunity, and I can’t thank them enough.”
- Karl-Anthony Towns’ TPA (48.29) nearly doubles Joel Embiid’s (24.57), for those scoring more than Wednesday night’s fight between the two centers.
- Raise your hand if you had the Memphis Grizzlies as the team with the fastest pace through four games. The Denver Nuggets are the slowest, averaging roughly 12 fewer possessions per 48 minutes than the Tennessee franchise.
- Beal on celebrations after home runs in baseball: “Why not? Let a pitcher do the same thing when he strikes somebody out. I don’t think it’s disrespecting the game.” For what it’s worth, Beal played shortstop growing up.