Lillard Sets NBA Record for 3-Pointers Made Through 3 Seasons
Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard hit his 546th career three-pointer during Sunday's 110-99 win over the Sacramento Kings, breaking Klay Thompson's NBA record for most three-pointers made through the first three seasons of a career, per Casey Holdahl of the Blazers' official website.
The Weber State product hit the record-breaking trey with just over eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, on his way to a 31-point performance in which he made three of his five shots from beyond the arc.
With 24 games remaining in Portland's season, Lillard's 546 career three-pointers best the 545 accumulated by Thompson from 2011-12 to 2013-14.
Of course, Thompson's rookie season was shortened to 66 games by a lockout, but good health allowed him to log 229 appearances through the first three years of his career, falling just one game shy of the maximum.
Lillard managed to break the record in fewer games, with Sunday's contest marking his 222nd NBA appearance.
Even with a recent shooting slump, the 24-year-old point guard owns an impressive three-point percentage of .371 for his career, though it falls far short of Thompson's incredible .417 mark.
To be fair, Thompson has the benefit of being a bit more selective, as Lillard—like many other primary ball-handlers—is often forced to hoist up undesirable three-point attempts when the shot clock approaches zero.
For the 2014-15 season, Lillard ranks third in the NBA in three-point attempts (416) and sixth in three-pointers made (143), while Thompson is sixth in attempts (406) and tied for second in conversions (175).
Thompson's teammate, Stephen Curry, is unsurprisingly the league leader in both categories.
While this may be getting a bit ahead of things, it's quite possible there will come a day when Curry, Thompson and Lillard rank in the top three, in some order, on the NBA's all-time leaderboard for three-pointers made.
Until then, we can only hope for a Blazers-Warriors playoff matchup that would double as a clinic on three-point shooting.
