Cleveland Cavaliers Set NBA Record for Made 3-Pointers vs. Hawks
While the Cleveland Cavaliers needed a late surge to hold off the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1 of their playoff series, they wasted little time ensuring the 123-98 victory in Game 2 on Wednesday behind some record-setting three-point shooting.
According to NBA.com/Stats, Cleveland set a record with 25 made three-pointers in one game:
NBA.com/Stats noted the previous record for long-distance makes in one contest was 23, which the Houston Rockets (Feb. 5, 2013) and Orlando Magic (Jan. 13, 2009) both set. The Cavaliers were so hot Wednesday that they set the postseason record of 22 makes in the middle of the third quarter before breaking the all-time record:
Record shooting from behind the three-point line is nothing new to this postseason. The playoff record previously belonged to the defending champion Golden State Warriors, who connected on 21 threes during their Game 4 win over the Houston Rockets on April 24. They even did so without the help of the injured reigning MVP, Stephen Curry.
The Cavaliers also connected on 20 three-pointers during their Game 2 win over the Detroit Pistons in the first round. According to Ananth Pandian of CBSSports.com, the 2011 Dallas Mavericks and 1996 Seattle SuperSonics were the only other teams to make 20 shots from deep in one postseason contest.
Plenty of shooters got in on the action for the Cavaliers on Wednesday, including J.R. Smith, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. Here is a breakdown of the 25 made three-pointers:
| J.R. Smith | 7-of-13 |
| Kyrie Irving | 4-of-5 |
| LeBron James | 4-of-6 |
| Kevin Love | 3-of-4 |
| Richard Jefferson | 2-of-2 |
| Channing Frye | 1-of-3 |
| Matthew Dellavedova | 1-of-3 |
| Mo Williams | 1-of-4 |
| Iman Shumpert | 1-of-1 |
| Dahntay Jones | 1-of-2 |
At least the Hawks had some fun with the shooting onslaught:
The Cavaliers made a habit of formidable shooting from distance this season. They finished seventh in the league at 36.2 percent from three-point range in 2015-16, and Kevin Love (36), Richard Jefferson (38.2), Channing Frye (37.7), Smith (40) and Matthew Dellavedova (41) all posted marks above 35 percent.
Ironically, this came during a campaign when the team’s leader, James, shot 30.9 percent from deep, which was the lowest total of his career since his rookie season in 2003-04 (29 percent).
Smith, in particular, stood out during Wednesday’s game, and Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today provided a shot chart from NBA.com for his first-half marksmanship:
This season marked the second time in Smith’s career he shot at least 40 percent from deep (40.3 percent in 2007-08 for the Denver Nuggets), as he found a comfort level in Cleveland with opposing defenses focusing plenty of attention on James, Irving and Love.
The Hawks' Kyle Korver recently offered plenty of high praise for Smith after Cleveland’s victory in Game 1, via Spencer Davies of 92.3 The Fan:
Cleveland secured a 2-0 lead in this series on Wednesday and appears primed to reach the NBA Finals for the second consecutive season. While it isn't going to shoot like this every postseason game, it was one of the missing ingredients against the Warriors last year.
The Cavaliers lost the last three games of the 2015 NBA Finals and shot an abysmal 4-of-27 (14.8 percent) from deep in Game 4, 12-of-35 (34.3 percent) in Game 5 and 6-of-26 (23.1 percent) in Game 6. Part of the problem was the fact that both Irving and Love were out with injuries.
The Warriors may have won an NBA-record 73 games this season, but the Cavaliers could put up much more of a fight if they meet again with consistent shooting from three-point range.
