It’s one thing to recognize that Stephen Curry is one of the most dynamic players in the NBA right now, having transformed his Golden State Warriors into a true NBA betting lines juggernaut. However, many fans of the game — even devoted gold-and-blue Warriors faithful — may not know exactly how great a player he is.
Could Steph Curry Score 50 Points A Game NBA Lines Fans?
First-Quarter NBA Awards: Warriors, Stephen Curry stand ahead of pack (by @BenGolliver): https://t.co/18gTVw3MJI pic.twitter.com/vznscMVbZQ
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 8, 2015
If you think about it, Curry is probably the most important player in the three-point shift that has taken place in the Association. Sure, the tale that three-point shots have been underrated for a long time is an old chestnut. The idea that clever snipers are slowly taking over the league is old hat too. The teams that shot the best from downtown last year ruled the league like they never had before. There was a 0.47 correlation between a team’s rate of shooting threes and its winning percentage, according to FiveThirtyEight.com. The four teams in the conference finals (Houston, Golden State, Atlanta and Cleveland) were the top four teams in the NBA at the three-point shot. There are some (notably Lakers coach Byron Scott) who despise the three-point shot, teaching that the teams that rely on it for their offensive prowess will end up losing too many games with a pile of bricks beneath the basket. However, Curry is so good at the three that he has a chance to break Wilt Chamberlain’s season scoring average record of 50 points per game — even though he only averaged 24 last year.
So how could he do it? He is averaging almost 32 points per game now — and he’s missing a lot of fourth quarters because his team is up by so many points. Curry has two things going for him as a shooter: he is terrific from downtown, and he doesn’t tire over the course of the game. This means that it’s impossible for him to try too many threes — as his production has gone up, his efficiency has remained consistent. Here’s how the analysts at FiveThirtyEight.com broke it down. Among all players who have taken at least 200 shots, Curry was the fourth most efficient if you look at each shot. However, he has taken over 1,600 shots so far. The other players ahead of him in efficiency (Kyle Korver, DeAndre Jordan and Kevin Durant) haven’t even taken 800 yet. His shooting efficiency has added 371 points according to the metrics that FiveThirtyEight.com uses, way ahead of Kover’s 247.
He is shooting more this year, and he’s taking more threes this year, and his shot efficiency is higher this year. His assists have gone down — but that’s because he likely recognizes that he is the team’s best shooting option. And he probably he is — he shoots threes about as well with a defender between two and four feet away as the average NBA player does with the defender a dozen feet away. When the defender is closer than two feet, his percentage obviously goes down. However, he is skilled at getting good looks for himself.
So given his deadly offensive potential, if he played more — and took more shots — he could conceivably average 50 points a game. It would be incredible to see — although I’d be curious to see how that affected the team. After all, Wilt led the league in scoring his first seven seasons, but his team’s didn’t start winning until he started adding assists to his repertoire.
