Harrison Barnes is emerging as a vital three-point shooter for the Spurs.
SAN ANTONIO — Heading into the new season, many look to the lack of three-point snipers on the San Antonio Spurs roster.
Sure, there is Julian Champagnie, Devin Vassell, or Victor Wembanyama who can knock down the three-ball. Still, it wasn’t enough to quiet concerns that the Spurs’ lack of consistent, reliable three-point shooters would cost them this season.
But veteran forward Harrison Barnes is coming up big from the three-point line this season and is proving to be a threat from beyond the arc.
“Feels good,” said Barnes about his three-point shooting this season. “The way our roster is constructed, we shoot those shots.”
Barnes has been letting them fly from long range this season and making defenses pay for giving him space.
He is currently averaging 48.6% from the three-point line on 5.3 attempts, leading the Spurs in attempts with five or more.
He is nearly automatic from the three-point line, connecting on 75% of his shots at the top of the arc, 47% from the left corner three, and 42% from the right corner three-point spot also, 75% in the paint and around the rim.
“I think that whether it’s me, whether it’s somebody else, we take those shots with confidence,” he said.
Barnes is shooting 46% from the three-point line in his last five games and has made at least one three-pointer in his previous 11 games, including 6-of-9 versus Houston on Nov. 7 and 4-of-8 in a Spurs-Grizzlies game on Tuesday night.
But he isn’t holding his breath about an invite to this season’s NBA 3-Point Contest, even though he thought he should have competed last season.
“I thought I was going to get in last year. They (NBA) said I wasn’t close, so I don’t know what I had to do,” he laughed. “I have to be on pace to make two threes for me to get in, so I doubt I might get in.”
This season, San Antonio is 5-1 when they connect on more threes in a game and 4-1 when they have a higher three-point percentage.
And although the team may be in the middle of the pack in three-point percentage in the NBA (currently 16th overall), San Antonio is showing steady improvement over the last several games.
In the team’s last five games, they are connecting on 37% from long range and are eighth overall in the NBA in three-point field goals made at 44.
“We know that if we continue to trust that process of the shots that we’re doing, then everything will work out,” added Barnes.