The numbers are an anomaly.
Last season, Kyle Korver had 600 field goal attempts and 449 from 3-point range. That’s 74.8 percent of those total shots from behind the arc.
This season, the Hawks shooting guard has 161 field goal attempts and 91 from 3-point range. That’s 56.5 percent of those total shots from behind the arc.
Why the big difference?
“I’m really being guarded hard on the 3-point line,” Korver said after practice Monday. “There is not a lot of space to pull up from 3 sometimes. I’m trying not to overdo it but at the same time I need to keep on getting shots to try to stay in rhythm, try to find rhythm.”
Korver is making 42.9 percent (39 of 91) of his 3-pointers this season. He is 20th in the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage behind the Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard, who is first at 50.0 percent (41 of 82). The Warriors’ Stephen Curry leads the league in attempts – by a significant margin – in 3-point attempts at 246. He has taken 65 more 3-pointers than second-place James Harden. Korver is tied for 37th with his 91 attempts. He has missed two games this season due to ankle rehabilitaiton on back-to-back games as he returns from offseason surgery.
“I wouldn’t say more so than normal,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said Tuesday when asked if defenses are even more committed to stopping Korver from long range. “It’s always been a priority. I feel like he’s trying to take advantage of how the defense is guarding him. He’s doing more things off the dribble, attacking more, taking more 2’s, getting to the basket a little more. I think it’s not just less 3’s. I’m think, although I don’t know for certain, that he’s just shooting more 2’s and doing more things off the dribble.”
Korver led the NBA in 3-point percentage last season at 49.2 percent. It was the second straight season, and third in his career, he has led the league in the category.
Korver is converting his 2-point attempts at a high percentage. He had made 40 of his 70 attempts for a 57.1 percentage. Last season, Korver took 151 2-pointers and made 71 for a 47.0 percentage.
“Just another way to find shots,” Korver said of his 2-point attempts. “Hopefully, if I knock down a few of those people will be a little more worried about that and there will be some more 3’s available. There just aren’t a lot of 3’s available right now for me to shoot unless I really force them.”
Korver has an effective field goal percentage of 61.2 percent. The stat is an adjustment for a 3-pointer being worth more than a 2-pointer. The percentage is only down slightly from his previous seasons in Atlanta of 61.8, 62.6 and 67.1 from 2012-15.
Budenholzer said he remains pleased with the way Korver is spacing the floor – and all the benefits to the Hawks’ offense therein. He did say, however, he wouldn’t mind it if Korver looked for the 3-pointer a little more often.
“I would actually say there are times when I want him to be a little more aggressive,” Budenholzer said. “He’s maybe passed up an occasional opportunity. When you are growing and adding, every read you make is not going to be perfect. He’s trying to still fit in to what we are doing but still grow and expand and hopefully make himself more dynamic.”
