Steph Curry averaged 20.2 shots per game last season for the Golden State Warriors, including 11.2 3-point attempts — three more per game than any previous year. Surprisingly the Warriors as a team recorded just 7159 field goal attempts, while their opponents put up more: 7330. (The Warriors shot a better percentage, making .487 vs. .435.) Klay Thompson put up 17.3 attempts per game, 8.1 of them threes — also a career high.
Coach Steve Kerr says this is going to be an “experimental year” for the Warriors, trying to temper expectations after the Kevin Durant acquisition. Here’s the experiment: Can he fit 8 ounces of shots into a 7 ounce glass? Durant averaged 19.2 shots per game last year including 6.7 3-point tries — the most in his career. Kerr’s experiment will include trying to figure out just how many 3-pointers the Warriors can take. (Last year it was 31.6 in the regular season.) And how to move the shots around — has Kerr been watching Dream Team tape? Departed Warriors forward Harrison Barnes averaged exactly half of Durant’s attempts with 9.6 per game — with only 1.2 of them 3-pointers.
