Celtics vs Warriors: is Curry’s 0-9 the worst 3-point shooting performance in the history of NBA Finals?

Despite seeing his team clinch an all important win in Game 5, the Warriors star had a terrible shooting night, but just how bad was it in comparison to other players in history?

Steph Curry had ‘a bad night at the office’

On Monday night Warriors star Steph Curry had a first in his career, but rest assured it was the kind of achievement that he’s quite likely going to want to forget. For the first time in his career, Stephen Curry couldn’t get a 3-pointer to fall in an NBA postseason game. You read that right. Curry was 0 for 9 from beyond the arc in the Warriors’ 104-94 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. With that Curry brought to an end a streak of 233 postseason and regular-season games in which he had made at least one 3-pointer. That’s 3 1/2 year in case you’re wondering, which takes us all the way back to November 8th, 2018.

In the end the NBA’s three point king finished on 7 for 22 shooting overall to the tune of 16 points, but more importantly the Warriors moved to within one game of another NBA Championship. “I don’t think I’ve ever been happier after a 0-for-whatever type of night,” Curry said, “just knowing the context of the game, the other ways you tried to impact the game and the fact that, you know, you had four guys step up in meaningful ways to help us win offensively.”

Was Steph Curry’s 3 point % the worst in NBA Finals history?

On the one hand it’s glaringly obvious that his 3 point conversion or lack there of was a shock, but ‘Chef Curry’ still managed to put 16 points on the board on 7 for 22 shooting. Why is that important? Simply because if we’re going to rank players, it’s probably worth noting that a handful of other NBA stars have actually had worse shooting nights overall. With that said, it would also be negligent to look at one single performance as opposed to collective showings across the post season, so that’s what were going to do. Here we have a handful of players who’ve done worse:

LeBron James

Though it may come as a surprise to some, LeBron James isn’t always good at everything he does. Indeed, that was definitely the case during the 2015 playoffs and even in the finals when King James was playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers. James at the time went 17.6% shooting from beyond the arc on a total of 60 attempts, which in reality makes him one of the worst in NBA post season history. It should be said the Lakers star has worked on that aspect of his game since those times.

Michael Jordan

Here’s one that will most definitely shock a few. It was a different time of course, when three-point shots weren’t as prevalent as they are today, which is to say that even the GOAT himself wasn’t always a sure bet when attempting one from down town. That was never more the case than during the Chicago Bulls’ 1997 NBA Championship run, when his ‘Airness’ Michael Jordan, could only muster an abysmal 19.4% from three point territory across the entire playoffs. With just 13 of 67 three pointers made, Jordan definitely wasn’t at his usual best, but the thing is he was most definitely so in literally every other department. That’s to say he averaged 31.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, so did it really matter?

Jason Kidd

Before his current job as the head coach of the plucky Dallas Mavericks, Jason Kidd was terrorizing the NBA as one of the best point guards the league has ever seen. That takes us back to the 2001-02 season when Kidd was plying his trade with the most formidable New Jersey Nets. On a run that would see them go all the way to the 2002 NBA Finals, the team was spearheaded by Kidd who was averaging 19.6 points, 8.2 rebounds, 9.1 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. That, however, was not the case where shooting from distance was concerned. As the Nets fell in four games to the Lakers in the finals, the star point guard could only watch in horror as his 18.9% shooting from beyond the arc - he made 17 of 90 - did little to help the Nets’ cause. To this day he holds the record for worst three point shooting in the post season.