Warriors firing 3-pointers at record rate a matter of style over trend

OAKLAND – In thumping the Timberwolves 116-108 on Monday night at Oracle Arena, the Warriors poured in 19 3-pointers.

[RELATED: Warriors' 116-108 home win over the Timberwolves]

They buried 19 triples in their previous game, last Friday while battering the Bucks in Milwaukee.

They splashed 18 shots from beyond the arc the game before that, crushing the Cavaliers in Cleveland.

The 56 triples in three games are a franchise record for such a span. Moreover, the 123 attempts from deep are about 35 more than the Warriors typically would take. It’s absolutely stunning that the Warriors have taken one more 3-pointers than the Rockets, the NBA’s most noted 3-point-shot addicts, over their last three games.

What happened to that Warriors vow to remain true to their established style while most of the rest of the NBA is intent on making the 3-pointer the trendiest shot in league history?

“Yeah, we’re taking the approach that everyone else is taking and just casting a bunch of 3s,” Draymond Green said late Monday night, after the win over Minnesota.

Though Green wasn’t close to being serious, that’s exactly what the numbers indicate. Before Cleveland: The Warriors were averaging 29.4 attempts per game, 20th in the NBA. With this three-game fusillade, they’ve moved up to 17th, averaging 30.6.

The Warriors insist this is not by design.

“There is no writing on the board that we have to get over 40 threes,” Kevin Durant said.

Coach Steve Kerr explained last week why he’s happier with the Warriors going 6-of-12 on 2-pointers than 4-of-12 from deep. They both equal 12 points, but the extra may slow down the opponent’s offense.

But the accuracy during this stretch, 45.5 percent, is a wonderful reason to keep firing. Some of this may be ascribed to the Warriors facing mediocre-to-poor 3-point defense from their last three opponents. Most of it, though, is a by-product of the Warriors exploiting an element they generally do well, though not particularly often.

They led the league in 3-point percentage in three of the last four seasons, finishing third in 2016-17. They led the NBA in attempts only once in those four seasons, 2015-16. They finished 16th last season, though there were only 2.7 fewer attempts.

It’s the rest of the league that is changing. Not the Warriors. After all, they believe not in quantity but in quality.

“Everybody else is shooting a ton more, but we’ve stayed pretty consistent because our personnel has stayed pretty consistent,” Kerr said. “I wouldn’t expect a big deviation from that. Obviously, we’ve had success. So we’re very comfortable playing the way we are.”

Well, yes, but are the last three games a blip or a signal?

“We can sustain it,” Stephen Curry said of the recent deluge. “But we talk about it all the time, and Coach has mentioned it: It’s the type of 3s you get. And the last two games have been really good ones for the most part in terms of moving the basketball, finding the open guy.”

Curry was 7-of-14 against the Timberwolves and is 20-of-37 over his last. Durant was 4-of-7 and is 9-of-20 over the last three, Klay Thompson 4-of-7 and 10-of-22. Jonas Jerebko is 7-of-17 over the last three.

“If the 3s are there, we’re going to take them,” Green said. “But we’re not about to go out there and hunt 3-point shots. It’s just not happening. Everybody else can do that. We’re not doing that.

“And I think our recipe has been pretty good. So, yeah, we cool.”

The Warriors have advanced to four consecutive NBA Finals doing it their way. That the rest of the league is emphasizing the 3-ball is no compelling reason for them to change.

But even they have to admit that jacking up 3s at an accelerated rate, watching them go in at a high clip and winning all the while is a pretty good formula.

“Honestly,” Green said, “you just take what’s there.”