(Left to right): Dary Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets, speaks with statistician Nate Silver.
When Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors launches another salvo of mind-blowing three-point shots, as happens frequently these days, he isn't just creating highlights for sports news shows. Curry is also playing the percentages. After all, Curry is making 46 percent of his three-pointers this season, the equivalent of shooting 69 percent from two-point range. And the Warriors, the best team in the NBA, are making a league-leading 41.2 percent of their three-pointers, which equates to nearly 62 percent from two-point range. But no NBA team is making more than 53 percent of its two-point shots this year. Thus the Warriors' winning edge: Being a top three-point shooting team is more efficient than being a top two-point shooting team, an argument basketball analysts have been making for years. Now the game of basketball, embracing three-point shooting like never before, has caught up with its theorists.
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