Just how improbable was the Portland Trail Blazers’ win Friday night over the Indiana Pacers?
Well, statistically, it was a one of one.
The Blazers became the first team in NBA history – regular season or postseason – to win a game while making four or fewer three-point shots with the opponent making 20 or more, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
During the 118-115 win, the Blazers made just 4 of 12 threes while the Pacers hit on 20 of 47. That’s a 48 point difference in one category.
The Blazers largely made up for it by scoring 66 points in the paint compared to 26 for the Pacers. Portland also made 30 free throws on 35 attempts compared to 17 of 25 for the Pacers.
“It’s crazy,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said of the three-point disparity. “I looked at that and said, ‘If you told me we would go 4 for 12 in this game and they would make 20 threes and shoot 47, shoot, we may get beat by 30.’ But if you look at the points in the paint, we have 66. And I also kind of count free throws as points in the paint. Thirty, that’s 96. That’s a way of slowing that down.”
The Blazers rank 15th in the NBA three-point attempts per game (34.3) and 26th in three-point shooting percentage (35.4%).
The Pacers rank 9th in three-point attempts per game (37.3) and fourth in three-point shooting percentage (38.3%).
The Blazers start a four-game trip at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Los Angeles Lakers.
