ORLANDO - It’s no secret that 3-point shooting is extremely important in the NBA, and has been for the last several years. But, how teams generate open looks from long distance is just as essential to a club’s success.
The best tactic to create high-percentage 3-point attempts is through kickout passes, either by way of drives, cuts or post entries.
Advanced analytics show that the teams who excel in this area make a lot of threes and win a lot of games.
Per Second Spectrum, the teams who have made the most kickout threes directly off the pass thus far this season are the Raptors, Bucks, Spurs, Sixers and Celtics – five of the best squads in the league. Conversely, the teams who have made the fewest are the Clippers, Suns, Grizzlies, Nets and Cavaliers – four of whom would be out of the playoffs if the regular season ended today.
This is not a new trend, either. Last year, for example, only three teams who ranked in the bottom 10 in this category made the postseason.
There are a few reasons why kickout passes make such a huge difference.
For one, it signifies that teams are getting into the paint and forcing defenses to collapse inside. When that happens, typically there are open shooters on the perimeter for drivers and cutters to kick out to. Good post-up players will frequently command double teams, too, giving them open targets on the outside.
Also, catch-and-shoot 3-point percentages tend to be higher than pull-up 3-point percentages. The Magic’s catch-and-shoot 3-point percentage is currently at 35.4 percent, for instance, while their pull-up percentage from distance is at 32.2 percent. There are exceptions, of course, as the Clippers and Lakers presently have better pull-up 3-point percentages than catch-and-shoot.
The more kickout passes a team makes, the more unselfish they probably are and the better chemistry they likely have. Rather than having a pick-and-roll ball handler take the majority of the shots, it’s helpful when everyone on the team gets involved in the offense. The most crucial single shot in the game, arguably, is the corner spot-up three, which usually is taken following a kickout pass.
The Magic have done a solid job in this area this season. In fact, they currently rank 10th in the league in made shots off kickout passes and 13th in attempts, per data.
Orlando’s best tandem in the kickout pass category has been Nikola Vucevic and D.J. Augustin. Augustin is 5-of-9 (55.5 percent) from 3-point range when the kickout pass comes from Vucevic, while Vucevic is 6-of-8 (75 percent) from downtown when the pass flies in from Augustin.
Vucevic and Evan Fournier have a good connection, too. Fournier is 8-of-16 (50 percent) when Vucevic delivers him a kickout pass.
Check out some examples:
