Warriors, Kings Combine to Break NBA Record for Combined 3s in a Game

Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press

The Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings combined to make 41 three-pointers in Saturday night’s 127-123 win by the Warriors, a new NBA record. 

Steph Curry led the way with 10 three-pointers (on 20 attempts), while Sacramento’s Buddy Hield splashed eight of his own on 13 tries.

The previous record wasn’t exactly an ancient one: The Warriors and Kings broke the prior record of 40 threes made in a game set by the Minnesota Timberwolves and Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018. And the three-point barrages in recent years are a sign of how the NBA has changed, as Kevin Durant elaborated upon after the game, per Nick Friedell of ESPN.com:

“It’s fast. I’d rather play inside the three-point line, but you got to adapt. I think a lot of players have adapted their games and changed how they play. But I don’t see this lasting too much longer. The way the game is played, pickup style. It will cease here in a second, but I think a lot of guys are just adjusting their games to the times. It’s fun for the fans; it’s fun for us at times. But it’s also tough to watch and tough to play against. But hey, that’s what we signed up for.”

Justin Jackson, who hit five three-pointers of his own, also broke down the shooting display from the two teams.

“It was a crazy game,” he said. “It felt every time we went down the court somebody hit a three. That’s obviously not an every game type of thing, but it shows the types of shooters that both teams have and the ability that both teams have to knock down threes. It was very good to see a lot of those shots fall for us.”

Draymond Green, however, felt it was just another example of how the NBA has legislated defense out of the game. “You can’t really play defense in the league today,” he said. “So, I guess that’s what [the league] wanted, right?”

It wasn’t a huge surprise the Warriors and Kings might combine to break the record. The Warriors sit fourth in three-pointers made per game (12.3) and third in three-point percentage (38.4 percent), while the Kings are eighth in three-pointers made per game (11.8) and second in three-point percentage (38.9 percent).

Interestingly, neither team is in the top 10 in threes attempted. The Warriors sit at 12th (32.1 threes attempted per game), while the Kings are 19th (30.3).

“Everybody’s shooting threes,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr noted. “That was just an incredible offensive display by both teams.”