ATLANTA – What’s going through your head nowadays when Avery Bradley fires up a shot from long distance?
For Isaiah Thomas, the answer to that question is simple.
“That it’s going in,” he said bluntly, just ahead of Monday’s practice in Atlanta.
Thomas, who has assisted on 11 of Bradley’s 64 made field goals this season, should know as well as anyone that Bradley has been on fire of late. The shooting guard is shooting the lights out.
Bradley just completed arguably the most impressive four-game stretch of his NBA career. For just the fourth time in his six seasons, he scored at least 20 points on three occasions during a four-game stretch, capped by a 27-point performance Sunday night in Brooklyn. He shot a ridiculous 53.1 percent from the field and 51.7 percent from long range during that stretch.
Only two other stretches of his NBA career are comparable to his last four games. From April 15-20 in 2012, he scored an average of 22.5 points and shot 62.7 percent from the field and 69.2 percent from long range over four games. From April 9-14 of 2014, he averaged 23.5 points while shooting 49.3 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from beyond the arc over four games.
Racking up numbers like that is nearly unheard of in this league. Needless to say, everyone in the gym believes Bradley’s shots are going in, including Bradley himself.
“I think it’s all about confidence and repetition,” he said before taking the court at Georgia Tech’s practice facility to work on his game. “Being able to get those reps up and believing that it’s going in every single time.
“Even if I miss a shot, I believe that it’s going in the next time.”
Bradley has great reason for such confidence, and it goes far beyond his last four games. He is in the midst of a career year in nearly every statistical category, most notably 3-point field goal percentage.
The shooting guard, who is a career 36.5 percent shooter from long range, has canned an impressive 43.1 percent of his treys this season, far and away a career-best rate. That mark ranks 16th in the league – just 0.7 percent behind reigning MVP Stephen Curry – among players who have attempted at least 40 3s.
In addition to the daily hard work Bradley puts in, his spike in percentage can be attributed in part to elite shot selection, according to rookie and fellow sharpshooter R.J. Hunter.
“The thing about Avery is that he doesn’t take a lot of bad 3s,” Hunter said. “So when he’s squared up and it’s a good shot, it looks like it’s going in. He’s in such a good rhythm right now.”
Bradley is not only making 3s at a career-best rate, but he’s also taking them more often than he ever had in the past. He has fired up an average of 5.3 treys per game this season, far more than his previous career high of 4.6 per game, set last season.
Boston’s offense is made for a shooter like Bradley. The pace and space that the team employs creates open shots around the perimeter, either off of dribble hand-offs or kick-outs from penetration.
Now that Bradley is making his 3s at an elite level, his teammates are looking for him as often as possible. They know that his shooting can change a game and push a defense onto its heels.
“He’s our best shooter right now, so we have to get him open,” Hunter said. “When he’s shooting the ball like that, the floor is more spaced for Isaiah and for Jae (Crowder) and for Evan (Turner) to make plays. I think everybody on the team knows that he has to make shots.”
Bradley has been delivering on that need all season long, and from everywhere on the court. Previously known as an elite 3-point shooter only from the corners, Bradley has expanded his consistency to above the break in the arc. He has canned 50.0 percent of his 3s from above the break this season, including a sizzling rate of 61.1 percent from the left wing.
Most teams and players, including Hunter, will still view the corner 3 – particularly on a fast break – as Bradley’s go-to shot. Bradley, however, has only one 3-pointer that stands above the rest.
“My favorite one is when it goes in,” he cunningly stated.
At the moment, it feels as if that’s every 3 Bradley fires up.
