A couple days ago, college basketball player J. J. Culver made the news by scoring an astounding 100 points in a game. Since it was against Southwestern Adventist University and not the New York Knicks, it’s not as impressive as Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in the NBA. However, players at every level have progressed a lot since 1962. Or have they?
It’s incredibly difficult to compare players across different eras, since the defense evolves along with the offense. It certainly appears in video footage that NBA players in the 1960s are light-years behind modern players. Even the championship teams of that era subjectively look like Division I college teams at best. However there are two statistics that can be compared across decades: free throw percentage and the NBA Three-Point Contest shooting percentage. If players have gotten better over the years, there’s no reason to think that they only improved in some ways and not others, so their improvement should be statistically apparent across the board, including these two.
Well, it turns out that I’ve compiled a nice dataset with all of the scores in history from the NBA 3-Point Contest from various sources (including watching videos) and historical NBA free throw stats are readily available. Unfortunately, there are various numbers of 2-point “money balls” in the shooting contest, so I don’t have the exact shooting percentage, just the percentage of possible points scored. However, it’s reasonable to use this as a very good approximation of shooting percentage, since it’s hard to imagine why a player would shoot significantly better or worse when he knows the ball is worth two points. So let’s do this!
Starting with the less interesting stats, there is a significant improvement in league-wide free throw percentage over the years…
It’s not a big difference, but it’s there. The trendline shows a historical 0.06% improvement per year with a p-value of less than 0.0001, which means that it’s extremely unlikely that there would be a trend like this if the year the stats were collected were unrelated to shooting percentage. However, it looks like there were a few really bad years at the beginning that could be making all the difference. So let’s look at it since 1950.
The slope has definitely decreased (it’s now at 0.04% per year), but it’s still statistically significant at the p=0.0001 level). Of course, it would’ve been easier to simply average the shooting percentage of the last five years in the dataset and compare it to the average for the first five years and show that it’s improved by 6.9% since then. However, doing a linear regression like this provides a more accurate estimate of the actual improvement (73*0.0006 = 4.4% improvement since the beginning) since it considers all of the data. It also tells you whether or not the relationship is statistically significant. So you can see why linear regressions are a statistician’s best friend; it’s easily interpretable and fun! (BTW, the R-Squared metric is a “goodness of fit” measure that ranges from 0 to 1 (perfect fit) and this is saying that the year explains 30% of the variance in free throw scores. The other 70% probably being the presence of Wilt Chamberlain or Shaquille O’Neal dragging the percentage down. Joking!)
Okay, now for the fun one: Are NBA 3-point shooters getting better as well? During the first years of the NBA 3-Point Shootout first took place, there were some incredible performances from shooters like Craig Hodges (made 19 straight shots in one round) and Larry Bird (won the first three contests). Maybe the “splash brothers” from Golden State are outliers and that the long-distance shooting accuracy has generally remained stable since the 1980s.
It doesn’t look like it! Due to the small number of shots in the contest each year, the data is much noisier than the free throw percentage, but the trend is still clear: recent players are better shooters. The slope is steeper than the free throw trend, with an improvement of 0.26% per year, but because of the volatility in the data, the p-value isn’t as small (p=0.0013). Another way to think of the level of statistical significance is to say that we have provided strong evidence against the hypothesis that shooters are equally skilled across the decades. In science, you can’t really prove a hypothesis is true, you can only provide evidence that’s consistent with it or falsify it.
We can’t talk about the history of the NBA three-point contest without addressing the question: who is the best shooter in the contest’s history? If you simply sort by shooting percentage, this is what you get:
So, the highest shooting percentage in the contest history is Joe Harris, with an astonishing 75% accuracy. However, this isn’t the whole story. Here is the same list, with important piece of additional data: the total number of shots taken:
There is a statistical tendency for the tops (and bottoms) of ranked lists to be monopolized by the smallest sets of data. This is because it’s easier to achieve extreme results with only a few tries. Intuitively, this makes sense. If someone says “I’m the best shooter in basketball; I’m shooting 100% this year”, you already know that they’ve only made a couple baskets at most. In this case, the effect is not as extreme as it normally is, because if a shooter was on fire in one shooting round, they probably advanced to another round (it’s truly remarkable that Danny Green didn’t make it to the finals in 2019 after shooting 68%!). However, you do see a lot of players at the top of the list who only shot a couple rounds. So, how do we adjust for this “small sample size effect” and compare shooters with varying numbers of shots?
I don’t think we can. How can you say who’s a better shooter, between Joe Harris, who made 75% of his 50 shots, or Steph Curry, who made 65% of 250 shots? The only thing I think we can do is to control for the number of shots and compare players who shot the same number of rounds. Starting with the most shots and working backwards, the winner of the “475 shots” category is…
Craig Hodges! Of course, it’s hard to call him the best shooter since there’s nobody with that many shots to compare him with, and his 56% shooting isn’t particularly noteworthy (the overall average was 52%). However, he did leave us with this unforgettable performance, so he deserves recognition for that.
Similarly, Dale Ellis, and Dirk Nowitzki were the only shooters with their number of shots and only shot about 50%. However, when we get down to players with 250 shots, it gets interesting…
These shooters are no clowns. Who could have imagined that Reggie Miller would rank last on any 3-Point Shooting ranking? So, we have our first candidate for best shooter in the Three-Point Contest history. Steph Curry, with 65% accuracy, ranks best in the first contested category.
Next up is the 200-shot category.
With a 60% shooting accuracy, Kyrie Irving edges out Curry’s coach Steve Kerr. Now, I realized that I lied earlier. We can compare across these categories, if the shooter with more shots also has a higher percentage! We can unquestionably state that Curry’s 65% with 250 shots is more impressive than Irving’s 60% performance with 200 shots. So, Curry can still be considered the top shooter.
Next up: 175 Shots.
Klay Thompson takes this title with 63% shooting. Now, it’s unclear whether his higher percentage would hold up if she shot another 25 times, so we can’t clearly rank him above Kyrie Irving. However, we can say that Curry’s higher percentage is still objectively the best.
150 Shots…
We finally have a true contender for Curry. Tim Legler has technically shot a higher percentage than Curry (66% to 65%), however if he took another 100 shots, it’s fairly likely that he would regress toward the mean a bit and fail to keep up his accuracy. Since we don’t truly know what his mean is, I don’t think there’s an objective way to judge who’s more impressive unless we got Tim out there to shoot a few more rounds.
125 shots…
In the 125-shot category, Devin Booker takes it with 62% shooting. Both Curry and Legler outperformed this with more shots, so this means we can leave Booker out of the overall “most impressive shooter” contention.
100 shots…
Marco Belinelli takes this category, with a Steph-matching 65% accuracy. However, it’s more impressive to shoot 65% over 250 shots than to do it with 100 shots, so Steph and Legler’s performances are still the best.
75 shots…
Jim Les wins this one with 56% shooting, but again falls behind Steph and Legler.
Next up is the highly-contested 50-shot category. These are all the remaining players who won at least one shootout round.
Joe Harris shot a remarkable 75%, so even though the sample size is so small, we can’t rule out that his performance gives him the title for most impressive 3-Point Contest shooter in history.
So we’ve boiled it down to three contenders. Who do you consider most impressive? Your guess is as good as mine…
Steph Curry: 65% of 250 shots
Tim Legler: 66% of 150 shots
Joe Harris: 75% of 50 shots
UPDATE: Since publishing this blog article, my co-author Gary Smith (he knows a lot of things) pointed out that there is a statistical way to compare Joe Harris to Steph Curry here. He said “there is a difference-in-proportions test for the null hypothesis that two probabilities are equal” which is another way of saying that you can attempt to falsify the hypothesis that Curry’s and Harris’s shooting percentages are the same. Here’s what I get when I plug in Curry’s and Harris’s shooting percentages…
So, this is saying that the shot data we have is not sufficient to argue that Harris’s shooting performance was significantly better than Curry’s. However, it is suggestive that he may be better; in fact, if he had made two more shots out of the 50, this test would have supported the idea that Harris’s performance was significantly better than Curry’s. Time will tell!
(Below is the data I used… enjoy! Oh yeah, and buy my book, thanks!)
| Year | Round | Player | Score | MaxPossible | TotalShots | Percentage |
| 1986 | 1st Round | Craig Hodges | 25 | 30 | 25 | 83% |
| 1986 | 1st Round | Dale Ellis | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1986 | 1st Round | Kyle Macy | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 1986 | 1st Round | Larry Bird | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 1986 | 1st Round | Leon Wood | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 1986 | 1st Round | Norm Nixon | 9 | 30 | 25 | 30% |
| 1986 | 1st Round | Sleepy Floyd | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 1986 | 1st Round | Trent Tucker | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 1986 | 2nd Round | Craig Hodges | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 1986 | 2nd Round | Dale Ellis | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 1986 | 2nd Round | Larry Bird | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 1986 | 2nd Round | Trent Tucker | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 1986 | Finals | Craig Hodges | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 1986 | Finals | Larry Bird | 22 | 30 | 25 | 73% |
| 1987 | 1st Round | Byron Scott | 9 | 30 | 25 | 30% |
| 1987 | 1st Round | Craig Hodges | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 1987 | 1st Round | Dale Ellis | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 1987 | 1st Round | Danny Ainge | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 1987 | 1st Round | Detlef Schrempf | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 1987 | 1st Round | Kiki Vanderweghe | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 1987 | 1st Round | Larry Bird | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 1987 | 1st Round | Michael Cooper | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1987 | 2nd Round | Danny Ainge | 8 | 30 | 25 | 27% |
| 1987 | 2nd Round | Detlef Schrempf | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 1987 | 2nd Round | Larry Bird | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 1987 | 2nd Round | Michael Cooper | 10 | 30 | 25 | 33% |
| 1987 | Finals | Detlef Schrempf | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 1987 | Finals | Larry Bird | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 1988 | 1st Round | Brent Price | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 1988 | 1st Round | Byron Scott | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 1988 | 1st Round | Craig Hodges | 10 | 30 | 25 | 33% |
| 1988 | 1st Round | Dale Ellis | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 1988 | 1st Round | Danny Ainge | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 1988 | 1st Round | Detlef Schrempf | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1988 | 1st Round | Larry Bird | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1988 | 1st Round | Trent Tucker | 11 | 30 | 25 | 37% |
| 1988 | 2nd Round | Byron Scott | 11 | 30 | 25 | 37% |
| 1988 | 2nd Round | Dale Ellis | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 1988 | 2nd Round | Detlef Schrempf | 5 | 30 | 25 | 17% |
| 1988 | 2nd Round | Larry Bird | 23 | 30 | 25 | 77% |
| 1988 | Finals | Dale Ellis | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1988 | Finals | Larry Bird | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1989 | 1st Round | Craig Hodges | 20 | 30 | 25 | 67% |
| 1989 | 1st Round | Dale Ellis | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 1989 | 1st Round | Danny Ainge | 11 | 30 | 25 | 37% |
| 1989 | 1st Round | Derek Harper | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 1989 | 1st Round | Gerald Henderson | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1989 | 1st Round | Jon Sundvold | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 1989 | 1st Round | Michael Adams | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 1989 | 1st Round | Reggie Miller | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1989 | 1st Round | Rimas Kurtinaitis | 9 | 30 | 25 | 30% |
| 1989 | 2nd Round | Craig Hodges | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 1989 | 2nd Round | Dale Ellis | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 1989 | 2nd Round | Gerald Henderson | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 1989 | 2nd Round | Reggie Miller | 11 | 30 | 25 | 37% |
| 1989 | Finals | Craig Hodges | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1989 | Finals | Dale Ellis | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 1990 | 1st Round | Bobby Hansen | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1990 | 1st Round | Craig Ehlo | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 1990 | 1st Round | Craig Hodges | 20 | 30 | 25 | 67% |
| 1990 | 1st Round | Jon Sundvold | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1990 | 1st Round | Larry Bird | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 1990 | 1st Round | Mark Price | 11 | 30 | 25 | 37% |
| 1990 | 1st Round | Michael Jordan | 5 | 30 | 25 | 17% |
| 1990 | 1st Round | Reggie Miller | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 1990 | 2nd Round | Bobby Hansen | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 1990 | 2nd Round | Craig Hodges | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1990 | 2nd Round | Jon Sundvold | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1990 | 2nd Round | Reggie Miller | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 1990 | Finals | Craig Hodges | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 1990 | Finals | Reggie Miller | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 1991 | 1st Round | Clyde Drexler | 8 | 30 | 25 | 27% |
| 1991 | 1st Round | Craig Hodges | 20 | 30 | 25 | 67% |
| 1991 | 1st Round | Danny Ainge | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 1991 | 1st Round | Dennis Scott | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 1991 | 1st Round | Glen Rice | 9 | 30 | 25 | 30% |
| 1991 | 1st Round | Hersey Hawkins | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 1991 | 1st Round | Terry Porter | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1991 | 1st Round | Tim Hardaway | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1991 | 2nd Round | Craig Hodges | 24 | 30 | 25 | 80% |
| 1991 | 2nd Round | Danny Ainge | 11 | 30 | 25 | 37% |
| 1991 | 2nd Round | Dennis Scott | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 1991 | 2nd Round | Terry Porter | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 1991 | Finals | Craig Hodges | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1991 | Finals | Terry Porter | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 1992 | 1st Round | Craig Ehlo | 10 | 30 | 25 | 33% |
| 1992 | 1st Round | Craig Hodges | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 1992 | 1st Round | Dell Curry | 11 | 30 | 25 | 37% |
| 1992 | 1st Round | Drazen Petrovic | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 1992 | 1st Round | Jeff Hornacek | 7 | 30 | 25 | 23% |
| 1992 | 1st Round | Jim Les | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1992 | 1st Round | John Stockton | 11 | 30 | 25 | 37% |
| 1992 | 1st Round | Mitch Richmond | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 1992 | 2nd Round | Craig Hodges | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1992 | 2nd Round | Drazen Petrovic | 8 | 30 | 25 | 27% |
| 1992 | 2nd Round | Jim Les | 20 | 30 | 25 | 67% |
| 1992 | 2nd Round | Mitch Richmond | 11 | 30 | 25 | 37% |
| 1992 | Finals | Craig Hodges | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 1992 | Finals | Jim Les | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1993 | 1st Round | B.J. Armstrong | 11 | 30 | 25 | 37% |
| 1993 | 1st Round | Craig Hodges | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 1993 | 1st Round | Dan Majerle | 10 | 30 | 25 | 33% |
| 1993 | 1st Round | Dana Barros | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1993 | 1st Round | Kenny Smith | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 1993 | 1st Round | Mark Price | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 1993 | 1st Round | Reggie Miller | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 1993 | 1st Round | Terry Porter | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 1993 | 2nd Round | Craig Hodges | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 1993 | 2nd Round | Dana Barros | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1993 | 2nd Round | Mark Price | 21 | 30 | 25 | 70% |
| 1993 | 2nd Round | Terry Porter | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1993 | Finals | Mark Price | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 1993 | Finals | Terry Porter | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1994 | 1st Round | B.J. Armstrong | 8 | 30 | 25 | 27% |
| 1994 | 1st Round | Dale Ellis | 20 | 30 | 25 | 67% |
| 1994 | 1st Round | Dana Barros | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 1994 | 1st Round | Dell Curry | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 1994 | 1st Round | Eric Murdock | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 1994 | 1st Round | Mark Price | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1994 | 1st Round | Mitch Richmond | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 1994 | 1st Round | Steve Kerr | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 1994 | 2nd Round | Dale Ellis | 10 | 30 | 25 | 33% |
| 1994 | 2nd Round | Dana Barros | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1994 | 2nd Round | Mark Price | 21 | 30 | 25 | 70% |
| 1994 | 2nd Round | Steve Kerr | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 1994 | Finals | Dana Barros | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 1994 | Finals | Mark Price | 24 | 30 | 25 | 80% |
| 1995 | 1st Round | Chuck Person | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1995 | 1st Round | Dan Majerle | 9 | 30 | 25 | 30% |
| 1995 | 1st Round | Dana Barros | 9 | 30 | 25 | 30% |
| 1995 | 1st Round | Glen Rice | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 1995 | 1st Round | Nick Anderson | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 1995 | 1st Round | Reggie Miller | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1995 | 1st Round | Scott Burrell | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 1995 | 1st Round | Steve Kerr | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 1995 | 2nd Round | Chuck Person | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 1995 | 2nd Round | Glen Rice | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 1995 | 2nd Round | Reggie Miller | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 1995 | 2nd Round | Scott Burrell | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1995 | Finals | Glen Rice | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1995 | Finals | Reggie Miller | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 1996 | 1st Round | Clifford Robinson | 11 | 30 | 25 | 37% |
| 1996 | 1st Round | Dana Barros | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 1996 | 1st Round | Dennis Scott | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 1996 | 1st Round | George McCloud | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 1996 | 1st Round | Glen Rice | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1996 | 1st Round | Hubert Davis | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1996 | 1st Round | Steve Kerr | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 1996 | 1st Round | Tim Legler | 23 | 30 | 25 | 77% |
| 1996 | 2nd Round | Dennis Scott | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 1996 | 2nd Round | George McCloud | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1996 | 2nd Round | Steve Kerr | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1996 | 2nd Round | Tim Legler | 22 | 30 | 25 | 73% |
| 1996 | Finals | Dennis Scott | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 1996 | Finals | Tim Legler | 20 | 30 | 25 | 67% |
| 1997 | 1st Round | Dale Ellis | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 1997 | 1st Round | Glen Rice | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 1997 | 1st Round | John Stockton | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 1997 | 1st Round | Sam Perkins | 8 | 30 | 25 | 27% |
| 1997 | 1st Round | Steve Kerr | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1997 | 1st Round | Terry Mills | 11 | 30 | 25 | 37% |
| 1997 | 1st Round | Tim Legler | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1997 | 1st Round | Walt Williams | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 1997 | 2nd Round | Glen Rice | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 1997 | 2nd Round | Steve Kerr | 21 | 30 | 25 | 70% |
| 1997 | 2nd Round | Tim Legler | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 1997 | 2nd Round | Walt Williams | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 1997 | Finals | Steve Kerr | 22 | 30 | 25 | 73% |
| 1997 | Finals | Tim Legler | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 1998 | 1st Round | Charlie Ward | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1998 | 1st Round | Dale Ellis | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 1998 | 1st Round | Glen Rice | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 1998 | 1st Round | Hubert Davis | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1998 | 1st Round | Jeff Hornacek | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 1998 | 1st Round | Reggie Miller | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 1998 | 1st Round | Sam Mack | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 1998 | 1st Round | Tracy Murray | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 1998 | 2nd Round | Charlie Ward | 11 | 30 | 25 | 37% |
| 1998 | 2nd Round | Dale Ellis | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1998 | 2nd Round | Hubert Davis | 24 | 30 | 25 | 80% |
| 1998 | 2nd Round | Jeff Hornacek | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 1998 | Finals | Hubert Davis | 10 | 30 | 25 | 33% |
| 1998 | Finals | Jeff Hornacek | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 2000 | 1st Round | Allen Iverson | 10 | 30 | 25 | 33% |
| 2000 | 1st Round | Bob Sura | 9 | 30 | 25 | 30% |
| 2000 | 1st Round | Dirk Nowitzki | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 2000 | 1st Round | Hubert Davis | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 2000 | 1st Round | Jeff Hornacek | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2000 | 1st Round | Mike Bibby | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 2000 | 1st Round | Ray Allen | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 2000 | 1st Round | Terry Porter | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 2000 | Finals | Dirk Nowitzki | 11 | 30 | 25 | 37% |
| 2000 | Finals | Jeff Hornacek | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 2000 | Finals | Ray Allen | 10 | 30 | 25 | 33% |
| 2001 | 1st Round | Allan Houston | 11 | 30 | 25 | 37% |
| 2001 | 1st Round | Bryon Russell | 10 | 30 | 25 | 33% |
| 2001 | 1st Round | Dirk Nowitzki | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2001 | 1st Round | Pat Garrity | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 2001 | 1st Round | Peja Stojakovic | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 2001 | 1st Round | Rashard Lewis | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 2001 | 1st Round | Ray Allen | 20 | 30 | 25 | 67% |
| 2001 | 1st Round | Steve Nash | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 2001 | Finals | Dirk Nowitzki | 10 | 30 | 25 | 33% |
| 2001 | Finals | Peja Stojakovic | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2001 | Finals | Ray Allen | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 2002 | 1st Round | Mike Miller | 10 | 30 | 25 | 33% |
| 2002 | 1st Round | Paul Pierce | 8 | 30 | 25 | 27% |
| 2002 | 1st Round | Peja Stojakovic | 20 | 30 | 25 | 67% |
| 2002 | 1st Round | Quentin Richardson | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 2002 | 1st Round | Ray Allen | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 2002 | 1st Round | Steve Nash | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 2002 | 1st Round | Steve Smith | 8 | 30 | 25 | 27% |
| 2002 | 1st Round | Wesley Person | 21 | 30 | 25 | 70% |
| 2002 | Finals | Peja Stojakovic | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 2002 | Finals | Steve Nash | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 2002 | Finals | Wesley Person | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 2003 | 1st Round | Antoine Walker | 7 | 30 | 25 | 23% |
| 2003 | 1st Round | Brent Barry | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 2003 | 1st Round | David Wesley | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 2003 | 1st Round | Pat Garrity | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 2003 | 1st Round | Peja Stojakovic | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 2003 | 1st Round | Wesley Person | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 2003 | Finals | Brent Barry | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2003 | Finals | Peja Stojakovic | 20 | 30 | 25 | 67% |
| 2003 | Finals | Wesley Person | 20 | 30 | 25 | 67% |
| 2003 | Finals-Overtime | Peja Stojakovic | 22 | 30 | 25 | 73% |
| 2003 | Finals-Overtime | Wesley Person | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 2004 | 1st Round | Chauncey Billups | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 2004 | 1st Round | Cuttino Mobley | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 2004 | 1st Round | Kyle Korver | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 2004 | 1st Round | Peja Stojakovic | 21 | 30 | 25 | 70% |
| 2004 | 1st Round | Rashard Lewis | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 2004 | 1st Round | Voshon Lenard | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 2004 | Finals | Kyle Korver | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 2004 | Finals | Peja Stojakovic | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 2004 | Finals | Voshon Lenard | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 2005 | 1st Round | Joe Johnson | 8 | 30 | 25 | 27% |
| 2005 | 1st Round | Kyle Korver | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 2005 | 1st Round | Quentin Richardson | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 2005 | 1st Round | Ray Allen | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 2005 | 1st Round | Vladimir Radmanovic | 6 | 30 | 25 | 20% |
| 2005 | 1st Round | Voshon Lenard | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2005 | Finals | Kyle Korver | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 2005 | Finals | Quentin Richardson | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 2005 | Finals | Voshon Lenard | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2006 | 1st Round | Chauncey Billups | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 2006 | 1st Round | Dirk Nowitzki | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 2006 | 1st Round | Gilbert Arenas | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 2006 | 1st Round | Jason Terry | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 2006 | 1st Round | Quentin Richardson | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 2006 | 1st Round | Ray Allen | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 2006 | Finals | Dirk Nowitzki | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 2006 | Finals | Gilbert Arenas | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 2006 | Finals | Ray Allen | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 2007 | 1st Round | Damon Jones | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 2007 | 1st Round | Dirk Nowitzki | 20 | 30 | 25 | 67% |
| 2007 | 1st Round | Gilbert Arenas | 23 | 30 | 25 | 77% |
| 2007 | 1st Round | Jason Kapono | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 2007 | 1st Round | Jason Terry | 10 | 30 | 25 | 33% |
| 2007 | 1st Round | Mike Miller | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 2007 | Finals | Dirk Nowitzki | 9 | 30 | 25 | 30% |
| 2007 | Finals | Gilbert Arenas | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2007 | Finals | Jason Kapono | 24 | 30 | 25 | 80% |
| 2008 | 1st Round | Daniel Gibson | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2008 | 1st Round | Dirk Nowitzki | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2008 | 1st Round | Jason Kapono | 20 | 30 | 25 | 67% |
| 2008 | 1st Round | Peja Stojakovic | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 2008 | 1st Round | Richard Hamilton | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 2008 | 1st Round | Steve Nash | 9 | 30 | 25 | 30% |
| 2008 | Finals | Daniel Gibson | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2008 | Finals | Dirk Nowitzki | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 2008 | Finals | Jason Kapono | 24 | 30 | 25 | 80% |
| 2009 | 1st Round | Daequan Cook | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 2009 | 1st Round | Danny Granger | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 2009 | 1st Round | Jason Kapono | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 2009 | 1st Round | Mike Bibby | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 2009 | 1st Round | Rashard Lewis | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2009 | 1st Round | Roger Mason | 13 | 30 | 25 | 43% |
| 2009 | Finals | Daequan Cook | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 2009 | Finals | Jason Kapono | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 2009 | Finals | Rashard Lewis | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 2009 | Finals-Overtime | Daequan Cook | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 2009 | Finals-Overtime | Rashard Lewis | 7 | 30 | 25 | 23% |
| 2010 | 1st Round | Channing Frye | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 2010 | 1st Round | Chauncey Billups | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2010 | 1st Round | Daequan Cook | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 2010 | 1st Round | Danilo Gallinari | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 2010 | 1st Round | Paul Pierce | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2010 | 1st Round | Stephen Curry | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 2010 | Finals | Chauncey Billups | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 2010 | Finals | Paul Pierce | 20 | 30 | 25 | 67% |
| 2010 | Finals | Stephen Curry | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2011 | 1st Round | Daniel Gibson | 7 | 30 | 25 | 23% |
| 2011 | 1st Round | Dorell Wright | 11 | 30 | 25 | 37% |
| 2011 | 1st Round | James Jones | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 2011 | 1st Round | Kevin Durant | 6 | 30 | 25 | 20% |
| 2011 | 1st Round | Paul Pierce | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 2011 | 1st Round | Ray Allen | 20 | 30 | 25 | 67% |
| 2011 | Finals | James Jones | 20 | 30 | 25 | 67% |
| 2011 | Finals | Paul Pierce | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 2011 | Finals | Ray Allen | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 2012 | 1st Round | Anthony Morrow | 14 | 30 | 25 | 47% |
| 2012 | 1st Round | James Jones | 22 | 30 | 25 | 73% |
| 2012 | 1st Round | Kevin Durant | 20 | 30 | 25 | 67% |
| 2012 | 1st Round | Kevin Love | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 2012 | 1st Round | Mario Chalmers | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 2012 | 1st Round | Ryan Anderson | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2012 | Finals | James Jones | 12 | 30 | 25 | 40% |
| 2012 | Finals | Kevin Durant | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 2012 | Finals | Kevin Love | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 2012 | Finals-Overtime | Kevin Durant | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 2012 | Finals-Overtime | Kevin Love | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2013 | 1st Round | Kyrie Irving | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 2013 | 1st Round | Matt Bonner | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 2013 | 1st Round | Paul George | 10 | 30 | 25 | 33% |
| 2013 | 1st Round | Ryan Anderson | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 2013 | 1st Round | Stephen Curry | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2013 | 1st Round | Steve Novak | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2013 | Finals | Kyrie Irving | 23 | 30 | 25 | 77% |
| 2013 | Finals | Matt Bonner | 20 | 30 | 25 | 67% |
| 2014 | 1st Round | Arron Afflalo | 15 | 30 | 25 | 50% |
| 2014 | 1st Round | Bradley Beal | 21 | 30 | 25 | 70% |
| 2014 | 1st Round | Damian Lillard | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 2014 | 1st Round | Joe Johnson | 11 | 30 | 25 | 37% |
| 2014 | 1st Round | Kevin Love | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 2014 | 1st Round | Kyrie Irving | 17 | 30 | 25 | 57% |
| 2014 | 1st Round | Marco Belinelli | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 2014 | 1st Round | Stephen Curry | 16 | 30 | 25 | 53% |
| 2014 | Finals | Bradley Beal | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 2014 | Finals | Marco Belinelli | 19 | 30 | 25 | 63% |
| 2014 | Finals-Overtime | Bradley Beal | 18 | 30 | 25 | 60% |
| 2014 | Finals-Overtime | Marco Belinelli | 24 | 30 | 25 | 80% |
| 2015 | 1st Round | James Harden | 15 | 34 | 25 | 44% |
| 2015 | 1st Round | JJ Redick | 18 | 34 | 25 | 53% |
| 2015 | 1st Round | Klay Thompson | 24 | 34 | 25 | 71% |
| 2015 | 1st Round | Kyle Korver | 18 | 34 | 25 | 53% |
| 2015 | 1st Round | Kyrie Irving | 23 | 34 | 25 | 68% |
| 2015 | 1st Round | Marco Belinelli | 18 | 34 | 25 | 53% |
| 2015 | 1st Round | Stephen Curry | 23 | 34 | 25 | 68% |
| 2015 | 1st Round | Wes Matthews | 22 | 34 | 25 | 65% |
| 2015 | Finals | Klay Thompson | 14 | 34 | 25 | 41% |
| 2015 | Finals | Kyrie Irving | 17 | 34 | 25 | 50% |
| 2015 | Finals | Stephen Curry | 27 | 34 | 25 | 79% |
| 2016 | 1st Round | CJ McCollum | 14 | 34 | 25 | 41% |
| 2016 | 1st Round | Devin Booker | 20 | 34 | 25 | 59% |
| 2016 | 1st Round | James Harden | 20 | 34 | 25 | 59% |
| 2016 | 1st Round | JJ Redick | 20 | 34 | 25 | 59% |
| 2016 | 1st Round | Khris Middleton | 13 | 34 | 25 | 38% |
| 2016 | 1st Round | Klay Thompson | 22 | 34 | 25 | 65% |
| 2016 | 1st Round | Kyle Lowry | 15 | 34 | 25 | 44% |
| 2016 | 1st Round | Stephen Curry | 21 | 34 | 25 | 62% |
| 2016 | Finals | Devin Booker | 16 | 34 | 25 | 47% |
| 2016 | Finals | Klay Thompson | 27 | 34 | 25 | 79% |
| 2016 | Finals | Stephen Curry | 23 | 34 | 25 | 68% |
| 2017 | 1st Round | CJ McCollum | 10 | 34 | 25 | 29% |
| 2017 | 1st Round | Eric Gordon | 25 | 34 | 25 | 74% |
| 2017 | 1st Round | Kemba Walker | 19 | 34 | 25 | 56% |
| 2017 | 1st Round | Klay Thompson | 18 | 34 | 25 | 53% |
| 2017 | 1st Round | Kyle Lowry | 9 | 34 | 25 | 26% |
| 2017 | 1st Round | Kyrie Irving | 20 | 34 | 25 | 59% |
| 2017 | 1st Round | Nick Young | 18 | 34 | 25 | 53% |
| 2017 | 1st Round | Wes Matthews | 11 | 34 | 25 | 32% |
| 2017 | Finals | Eric Gordon | 20 | 34 | 25 | 59% |
| 2017 | Finals | Kemba Walker | 17 | 34 | 25 | 50% |
| 2017 | Finals | Kyrie Irving | 20 | 34 | 25 | 59% |
| 2017 | Finals-Overtime | Eric Gordon | 21 | 34 | 25 | 62% |
| 2017 | Finals-Overtime | Kyrie Irving | 18 | 34 | 25 | 53% |
| 2018 | 1st Round | Bradley Beal | 15 | 34 | 25 | 44% |
| 2018 | 1st Round | Devin Booker | 19 | 34 | 25 | 56% |
| 2018 | 1st Round | Eric Gordon | 12 | 34 | 25 | 35% |
| 2018 | 1st Round | Klay Thompson | 19 | 34 | 25 | 56% |
| 2018 | 1st Round | Kyle Lowry | 11 | 34 | 25 | 32% |
| 2018 | 1st Round | Paul George | 9 | 34 | 25 | 26% |
| 2018 | 1st Round | Tobias Harris | 18 | 34 | 25 | 53% |
| 2018 | 1st Round | Wayne Ellington | 17 | 34 | 25 | 50% |
| 2018 | Finals | Devin Booker | 28 | 34 | 25 | 82% |
| 2018 | Finals | Klay Thompson | 25 | 34 | 25 | 74% |
| 2018 | Finals | Tobias Harris | 17 | 34 | 25 | 50% |
| 2019 | 1st Round | Buddy Hield | 26 | 34 | 25 | 76% |
| 2019 | 1st Round | Danny Green | 23 | 34 | 25 | 68% |
| 2019 | 1st Round | Devin Booker | 23 | 34 | 25 | 68% |
| 2019 | 1st Round | Dirk Nowitzki | 17 | 34 | 25 | 50% |
| 2019 | 1st Round | Joe Harris | 25 | 34 | 25 | 74% |
| 2019 | 1st Round | Kemba Walker | 15 | 34 | 25 | 44% |
| 2019 | 1st Round | Khris Middleton | 11 | 34 | 25 | 32% |
| 2019 | 1st Round | Stephen Curry | 27 | 34 | 25 | 79% |
| 2019 | Finals | Buddy Hield | 19 | 34 | 25 | 56% |
| 2019 | Finals | Joe Harris | 26 | 34 | 25 | 76% |
| 2019 | Finals | Stephen Curry | 24 | 34 | 25 | 71% |