NBA

James Harden overtakes Ray Allen in NBA three-point ranking

The Clippers had Harden celebrating the three-point party to put him second on the NBA all time list of scorers from beyond the perimeter line.

Kiyoshi MioUSA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con

The Clippers were in total command at their impressive Inuit Dome in Monday’s matchup with the Utah Jazz. Tyronn Lue’s lead from start to finish, securing a 105-166 win which leaves them 7-7 and 11th in the Western Conference.

It was also a night to remember for James Harden, who was even more prominent than usual. The Los Angeles-born guard surpassed Ray Allen’s professional record and is now in second place on the list of the greatest three-point shooters in the history of this American league. Now only Stephen Curry is left ahead of him.

By edging past 2,973 field goals, he surpassed the legendary Allen, champion with the Celtics and Heat and a benchmark for shooting mechanics. Curry is way ahead, and with 3,782 maybe too far in front to ever be caught.

In the all-time Top 10, five players remain active: Curry, Harden, Damian Lillard, Klay Thompson and LeBron James, although only a couple of them are in a position in which they could move up the ranking this season.

Curry has the best average per game from beyond the perimeter line (3.93), followed by Thompson (3.13) and Lillard (3.1) while Harden is at 2.74 with a percentage of .363.

The ranking gives us an indication as to how much the game has changed. Allen hardly ever attempted more than 17 3-pointers in a single game while Harden has 17 or more attempts in 23 games and ended 131 games in double-digits in shots from deep.

NBA all time top career three-point scoring

  1. Stephen Curry* 3,779
  2. James Harden* 2,974
  3. Ray Allen 2,973
  4. Damian Lillard* 2,639
  5. Reggie Miller 2,560
  6. Klay Thompson* 2,521
  7. Kyle Korver 2,450
  8. LeBron James* 2,438
  9. Vince Carter 2,290
  10. Jason Terry 2,282

*still active

The Clippers’ third quarter run

The majority of the Clippers points came during the third quarter. On 5:52 minutes, Harden sank the only shot he needed to beat Allen’s mark, valid in regular-season games, and the party continued throughout the rest of the night.

His 20 points wasn’t enough to see him end as the Clips’ top scorer, that honor went to Ivica Zubac and his 22. Jordan Clarkson, with a poor series of deep shots to set the tone for the Jazz, finished with 21 that helped his team but not enough to win the game.

NBA: this week's results

  • Timberwolves 120 - 117 Suns
  • Wizards 104 - 124 Pistons
  • Pacers 119 - 110 Heat
  • Grizzlies 105 - 90 Nuggets
  • Blazers 114 - 110 Hawks
  • Bulls 107 - 143 Rockets
  • Cavaliers 128 - 114 Hornets
  • Thunder 119 - 121 Mavericks
  • Knicks 114 - 104 Nets

The Jazz were unable to keep up the pace from the start, they began to pull away from the Clippers’ slipstream and went into halftime trailing by 21 points.

Lue’s team had many more possessions, which allowed them to get more out of their attacks, and they also made fewer mistakes in the form of turnovers; doing a little bit went a long way.

The result brought up the Jazz’s tenth defeat in the category. They are bottom of the standings with just three wins and face the Lakers next at the Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday.

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