Is Steph Curry Still The Best Shooter In The League?

Storyline: Steph Curry’s 3-point percentage this year is 41%, tied (with Mike Conley) for 18th in the NBA.

This may sound like an utterly ridiculous statement: Steph Curry, the two-time NBA MVP, is not the best shooter in the League this year. While it may sound ridiculous, I have numbers to back up that assertion.

Courtesy: Ibtimes.com

The reason I’m writing this article isn’t to get death threats from die hard Curry fans. It’s because of what I noticed in Curry’s play last Saturday night against Oklahoma City and, again, on Monday night against Denver. His play raised major concerns. In those two games Curry shot a combined 5-22 from beyond the arc. That’s just about 23%.

So I studied the stats year to see if Steph Curry is on the decline. What I found is that the numbers suggest that Curry’s performance is about more than having bad back-to-back nights. My conclusion is that I’m not sure if MVP Curry is still the best shooter in the league.

But before I show stats to support my contention I want to give credit where credit is due. Curry currently has the best FG% of any point guard in the league from inside the 3-point line at 54.1%. But the profile changes when you analyze Curry’s performance from 3. In his last 5 games Curry has shot a combined 10/40, 25%. Then, if you look beyond those games, you find that he has been great one night from 3 and is mediocre the next. He has done that a lot this season.

From Dec. 5, 2016 to Jan. 20, 2017 Curry averaged nine 3-pointers a game. His percentage from downtown was 37%. Are those numbers of a top 3-point shooter? No. A stretch of 23 games is not a “cold streak.” an “off night” or a “slump.”

So if Curry isn’t the best shooter in the league then who is? The criteria I used to determine that answer is a mix of who has the best 3-point percentage and who is best a making Points Per Shot (PPS). PPS gives me an idea of who’s efficient when it comes to shooting the basketball.

Otto Porter, Jr. (photo, Wikipedia.com)

Starting with 3-point percentage, the current leader is Otto Porter Jr., at just under 46%. Kyle Korver is next at 45% and Joe Ingles follows Korver at 44%. Because only one of these guys plays over 30 minutes a game (Porter Jr.), it’s fair to say that Porter Jr. shoots a great percentage in a much larger role. Porter Jr. also averages 1.4 PPS.

Curry’s 3-point percentage is 41% with a PPS of 1.4. A 5% difference from 3 is a really big deal, too. It’s the difference between being #1 (Porter Jr.) and being tied for #18 (Curry and Mike Conley).

It’s clear that Curry is not the best shooter in the League this year. One reason may be Kevin Durant. But the numbers don’t support that conclusion either. Why? Curry is still shooting a lot to 3’s (ten 3-pointers attempted a game), which is the most in the NBA.

It will be interesting to see if Curry will bounce back. Stay tuned.