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OAKLAND – The shots have fallen into the net at a blistering pace, leaving opponents scrambling on what to do next.
Such is life for any team that has played the Warriors for nearly the past four years. This problem does not just highlight most teams’ inability from stopping Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson from draining a long distance 3-pointer. Or for preventing Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala from leading a fast-break. Or, in this past year, limiting Kevin Durant from going on a scoring binge.
The Warriors (40-10) enter Tuesday’s game against the Utah Jazz (21-28) averaging a league-leading 116 points per game because it has excelled in an area plenty of NBA teams have steered away from in the modern game. The Warriors’ offense also centers on scoring from the mid-range area.
“The mid-range shot is a huge weapon in this league,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I always laugh when people say a mid-range shot is a horrible shot. What if it’s wide open? It seems like a great shot.”
That great shot has produced great results.
The Warriors rank among the NBA’s best in several statistical categories involving the mid-range shot. They lead the league in shooting percentage on mid-range attempts (47.5%), rank fourth in makes per game (8.8) and 11th in shots per game (18.4). They have outscored teams by an average of 6.2 points per game on mid-range shots, a point-differential that ranks second in the NBA.
Meanwhile, some of the Warriors’ star players thrive in that area. Thompson ranks sixth in the NBA in made mid-range jumpers (124) and seventh in attempts (265). Durant fares eighth overall in makes (122) and 11th in total shots (249).
“You know how Steph searches out threes and tries to run around and get 3-pointers?” Durant said. “That’s what I do at the mid range. It’s the same way. It’s the same type of feel and approach.”
Not everyone agrees with that approach.
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni revolutionized NBA offenses over a decade ago with the Phoenix Suns. Those teams placed higher priority on 3-point shots, a fast pace and floor spacers over plays that involve post-ups, isolations or mid-range shots. Hence, D’Antoni’s initial reaction when asked where he sees the mid-range game fitting in today’s NBA. Said D’Antoni, “I don’t see it.”
“We’re not ever going to set that up,” D’Antoni said. “We’re not going to run this play so you can get a mid-range shot. We don’t do that.”
Instead, the Rockets lead the NBA in 3-pointers made (15.7) and attempted (43.2) per game. Though D’Antoni called Houston guard Chris Paul “one of the best in the mid range” at 49.4 percent, Paul has only taken 89 attempts this season from that area. Meanwhile, the Rockets’ normally prolific James Harden (33.7) and Eric Gordon (36 percent) are inefficient with their shots from the mid-range area.
“It’s nice if your players can do it. It makes you that much more effective. But we set everything up the other way with the threes and layups,” D’Antoni said. “Whatever else happens depends on the player and depends on the time. If it’s a good shot, we’re not going to pass up good shots.”
For the Warriors, they often see the mid-range jumper as a good shot.
Though a vast percentage of the Warriors’ offense still primarily centers on points in the paint (38.7 percent) and 3-point shots (32.1 percent), the Warriors represent their offense nearly as equally from the mid-range area (14.8 percent) as from the free-throw line (14.4 percent).
“I’d rather take a wide-open 15-footer than a challenged 3, no matter what the math says,” Kerr said. “I want good shots. I think in a lot of cases nowadays, defenses are taking away 3’s and layups and are forcing that mid-range shot. So you better make it.”
So far, the Warriors have done it. No one epitomizes that more than Warriors reserve forward David West, whose offensive role primarily hinges in that area. He has shot 49-of-88 from the mid-range area this season (55.7 percent), a percentage that nearly equals Curry’s statistical output with a 59-of-99 clip (59.6 percent).
“It’s just training the body and the muscles to get comfortable in that range,” West said. “Honestly, it’s the same distance as a free throw. So if you can knock down a free throw, you should be able to knock down 15-footers.”
West and Durant also believe they should knock down those shots because they have taken them for most of their NBA careers.
When the former New Orleans Hornets drafted West with the 18th pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, most teams wanted power forwards to perfect nailing mid-range jumpers off of screens. Over 14 years later, West has maintained lasting value because of his ability to make those shots by maintaining his muscle memory, form and rhythm through constant repetition in shooting workouts.
Though Durant has shot 41.5 percent this season from 3-point range, he has taken more mid-range shots this season (249) than 3-pointers (235) for two simple reasons. Durant has operated in that area for most of his 11-year NBA career, so he could score in varying ways in the post. Durant has also found himself open in that area instead of from beyond the arc.
“I am always stubborn. This has always been a part of my game. It’s not like I’m just going to be shooting threes now,” Durant said. “I’ll stick to what I do now, and still shoot mid range shots. I wouldn’t say it’s a lost art. I just feel like you forgot about it for a couple of years. It’ll come back around.”
Thanks to the Warriors, it already has.
