With the NBA on hiatus due to COVID-19 coronavirus precautions, The Dallas Morning News is evaluating five of the most important statistics through the Mavericks’ season so far.
Earlier this week we covered the Mavericks’ NBA-best offensive rating, their struggles during clutch time and Kristaps Porzingis’ shot blocking.
Next: Seth Curry’s historic 3-point shooting percentage.
As kids, Seth and Steph Curry competed with one another in everything, especially sports and video games.
As the brothers have become some of the best distance shooters in the NBA, the sibling rivalry has given way to support.
But there’s still a statistical jostling between the two, which has become increasingly interesting to watch as the Mavericks have relied this season on Seth’s accuracy and production from three.
Seth ranks No. 2 in NBA history with a 44.32% career average from three. That’s 1.08 percentage points behind first-place Steve Kerr (44.32%) and .85 percentage points higher than Steph (43.47%), who’s sixth all-time in his Warriors tenure.
While Seth has played fewer games and shot fewer threes than Steph, and while Steph has missed the majority of the 2019-20 season due to injury, a few misses or a few standout games can mean the brothers pass one another on the career list.
The Mavericks hope Seth will continue to rise.
Curry is shooting a career-best 45.3% from three in 59 games this season. Since Curry became a more frequent starter in place of Dwight Powell, the Mavericks are 2-4 when Curry is inactive.
Before Curry missed the Mavericks’ last three games before the league suspended operations March 12, he’d scored at least 15 points in his last four contests, including a career-best 37 in Miami while shooting 8 of 9 from three.
Since Powell suffered a season-ending right Achilles tear on Jan. 21, shifting the Mavericks’ lineup to run smaller, Curry is shooting 55.5% from three while averaging 17.3 points in 18 games (11 starts).
Don’t expect Curry to focus on his individual production in hopes of continuing to rank ahead of his older brother when the NBA resumes and the two guards return in good health to their respective teams.
“Not as much as we got older,” Seth said earlier this season of his competitiveness with Steph. “It’s more about just funny stuff or trying to be each other’s biggest fans. I’m always watching his games, he’s always watching my games. So it’s more just positive stuff.”
Instead, watch for Curry’s durability and accuracy to be crucial factors in the Mavericks’ chance at playoff success, in whatever form the NBA postseason might take.
———
©2020 The Dallas Morning News
Visit The Dallas Morning News at www.dallasnews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.