3-Point Shooting in the First Round
| Game | Mavericks | Clippers |
|---|
| 1 | 47.2% | 27.5% |
| 2 | 52.9% | 39.4% |
| 3 | 51.3% | 41.9% |
| 4 | 16.7% | 39.4% |
| 5 | 38.9% | 36.8% |
| Total | 42.3% | 36.6% |
The Clippers are shooting 36.6 percent overall from 3-point range this postseason, in line with the league average of 36.7 percent during the regular season. But there’s a sizable gap between a near-historic high and just average, and that gap accounts for much of L.A.’s underperformance in this series. Through five games, the Clippers and Mavericks have each attempted 175 3-pointers—and Dallas has made 10 more, the equivalent of an extra two makes, or six points, per game. Sometimes, analysis is that simple.
That deviation is especially surprising given Dallas’s defensive strategy in its super-sized lineup, as every middle schooler in youth leagues across the country knows that a 2-3 zone is soft against spread shooters. During his brief coach’s interview between quarters on the TNT broadcast Wednesday, Carlisle acknowledged, “You’re going to have to live with some 3s” playing a zone, and indeed, during Marjanovic’s first stretch in Game 5, the Clippers attempted nine 3s, canning five.
But the Clippers’ average performance beyond the arc means Dallas
can live with those shots. L.A. was the best regular-season team on wide-open 3s, at
44 percent, but has fallen to 39 percent on those looks this series.
