League on the cusp of another 3-point record

MIAMI — Another year. Another record. The NBA’s 3-point craze is not slowing down.

For the sixth consecutive season, NBA teams will combine to set a leaguewide 3-point record. There have already been 23,635 3-pointers made this season, and the league is more than 8 percent ahead of the pace established last year, when the total across the NBA was 23,748.

So clearly, the reliance on the 3-pointer is not going to lessen anytime soon.

“I think it’s a trend for a while — but at some point it has to peak,” said Cleveland forward Kevin Love, one of the many NBA big men who has no trouble making 3s, and that’s a big reason why the totals are soaring. “Every position, 1 through 5, is now shooting 3s. You see that as such a weapon. It makes the game fun, makes it interesting. There’s definitely a lot of spacing out there and it’s wild to see.” Thing is, that peak isn’t visible. Out of 30 teams, 19 are either on pace to set — or have already set — franchise records for made 3s this season, and a couple others are within reasonable striking distance.

There are shooters now all over the league. Only four seasons ago, the total of NBA players who made at least 100 3s was 57. This year, that total is going to be close to doubled. Across the NBA this season, 91 percent of players have attempted at least one 3-pointer and 81 percent of players have made at least one.

Rookies are making them; Utah’s Donovan Mitchell has 172 and is closing in on the record for a first-year player, that being 185 by Portland’s Damian Lillard. Also making them are 7-footers; eight guys listed at 7-0 or better will likely get to the 100 mark by the end of the season.

And the league as a whole is actually getting better at them. Accuracy from 3-point range has gone up about 1.5 percent over the last three seasons, definitely one of the reasons why scoring per game is higher than it’s been at any point in nearly 30 years.

“We all like to get out there, shoot a lot of 3s, spread the floor and try to move the ball as much as you can,” Houston coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Everybody is more or less the same ... with the same outline. Just get it done in different ways.”