Thompson Leads List Of Top 5 Playoff 3-Point Performances
OAKLAND (CBS SF) – A sly smile etched across Klay Thompson's face. A frustrating Game One NBA Finals shooting night ended with a picture perfect three-point bomb barely rippling the net as it swished in.
In the ebb and flow of the NBA game, Thompson's tumble from stone-cold killer from three in the final two Western Conference Finals games against Oklahoma City to firing bricks in Game One of the Finals turned the bright lights on the fickle nature of the game.
So the next time you gather with your friends in the confines of your friendly sports bar, challenge them to name the top five 3-point shooting playoff performances of all time.
It's a good bet that first name uttered will be Golden State's Steph Curry – the best 3-point shooter of all time.
That would be close, but no cigar. Steph has scored 7 three-pointers in a playoff game against Oklahoma City this year and an all-time high of 8 three-pointers against Memphis in 2015.
Then Thompson must be also on the list. And he is, in fact his 11 3-pointers in Game 6 of the Oklahoma City series tops the all-time list.
So who's on the list?
Jason Terry
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Terry went off on Kobe and the Los Angeles Lakers for nine made 3-pointers in the 2011 NBA Playoffs.
The lightning quick guard is a career .388 percent shooter from the three-point line, hitting on 217 of 559. His long-range touch was even deadlier in the 2011 playoffs. He shot a career playoff high 95 threes and converted on 42 for a .442 shooting percent.
Three other players are tied with him.
Ray Allen
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Allen scored nine threes in two different NBA playoff games. His first was against the Philadelphia 76ers in 2001 and then again against the Chicago Bulls in 2009.
For his career, Allen shot just over 40 percent from the three-point line during the playoffs.
In 2001, Allen fired up 119 threes and converted on 57 or nearly 48 percent of his attempts. For the Boston Celtics in the 2009 playoffs, Allen attempted 100 threes and converted on 35.
Vince Carter
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The ageless Carter also scorched the 76ers during the 2001 playoffs for nine threes. For Toronto in those 2001 playoffs, Carter had career playoff highs in three-point attempts with 61 and conversions with 61 for a .410 shooting percentage from beyond the arc.
Rex Chapman
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Chapman torched the then Seattle Supersonics with 9 threes in a 1997 playoff contest. In his short four-year NBA playoff career, Chapman converted on 27 of 72 three-point playoffs attempts for a .375 average.
During the Phoenix Suns 1997 run, Chapman was at his best -- converting on a career-high 22 of 48 attempts.
