The Whiteboard: Can anyone stop the Utah Jazz’s 3-point shooters?

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If you live on the east coast or just go to bed at a reasonable hour, you likely missed another incredible offensive performance by the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night. They hung 154 points on the Sacramento Kings, knocking in 24 3-pointers in the rout. Oh, and Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley weren’t even playing.

There have only been 34 games in NBA history in which a team made 24 or more 3-pointers. Exactly half of those games (17) have occurred this season. And six of those 17 games belong to the Utah Jazz — more than a third of the elite team shooting performances this season and nearly a fifth of them in the entire history of the league. No other team has ever managed it more than three times in a single season (the Rockets did it three times in the 2018-19 season) and Utah has already done it six times with ten games left. At their current pace (six in 62 games), there’s a good chance they could add one more before the regular season ends.

Because of the shortened season, the raw totals of this year’s Jazz team won’t set any records but they are on a historic trajectory. They’re averaging 17.0 made 3-pointers per game, nearly a full make more than any other team in NBA history. Their 3-point percentage ranks just 36th all-time but they’re playing in a different era than many of the teams ahead of them — through 62 games they’ve already attempted more 3-pointers than any of the 35 teams ahead of them by accuracy.

As you would expect with a historic team outlier, Utah’s depth has been the key. Midseason roster additions have adapted some of their rotations but they have 12 players who have appeared in at least 10 games this season and averaged at least one 3-point attempt per game. Of those dozen shooters, five have made more than 40 percent of their 3s and eight have made at least 37.0 percent. Neither group includes Matt Thomas, who has made just 6-of-24 from beyond the arc since signing with Utah but hit 45.7 percent of his 3s across two seasons with the Toronto Raptors.

And, somewhat amazingly, the Jazz 3-point percentage may even be dragged down below their true average by some unlikely cold shooting lately. Jordan Clarkson is second on the team in 3-point attempts at 8.7 per game but he’s made just 34.7 percent on the season. Through the end of February, Clarkson was hitting 37.1 percent of his 3s. Since then, he’s made just 31.4 percent.

What’s made the Utah Jazz such an incredible shooting team?

You need good shooters to be a good shooting team but the Jazz roster is among the league-leader in roster continuity — the percent of minutes played by players who were also on the team last season. However, the Jazz have dramatically reworked their offensive style this season, changing more than all but a handful of other teams. The biggest changes have been with a lot more movement of players and the ball, pushing the pace, making quicker decisions and taking open shots when they present themselves.

Being more effective at moving the ball, spreading the floor and letting multiple creators attack and collapse the defense has generated an embarrassing wealth of open shots. According to the NBA’s player tracking statistics, the Jazz are averaging 21.3 wide-open 3-pointers per game (an attempt with no defender within six feet of the shooter). That’s up from 17.5 per game last season, again with largely the same roster.

A reliance on 3-point shooting is often viewed as a potential playoff weakness, a high variance Achilles’ heel that could catch up with a team at the wrong time. But what the Jazz are doing feels at least a little bit unique. Their hot shooting isn’t driven by just one or two elite off-movement shooters who a defense can try and scheme for and isolate, like the Steph Curry and Klay Thompson Warriors. And they don’t appear to have an offensive system built around the individual brilliance of just one or two creators who, if stymied, won’t be able to set up their more limited teammates, like the James Harden and Russell Westbrook/Chris Paul Rockets. Their shooters and creators might not be as elite as some of those other teams but the depth of skill the Jazz have in both areas brings a (positive) redundancy to their offense that feels unique.

Again, elite 3-point shooting presents both opportunities and disadvantages in the playoffs. But I’m not sure we’ve ever seen a 3-point shooting team quite like this Utah Jazz.

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