Live by the 3-pointer, die by the 3-pointer.
We hear it all the time. When a 3-point-happy team loses a game, it almost always comes with that warning.
It's an odd response when you think about it. When was the last time we heard "live by the rebound, die by the rebound" when a glass-cleaning squad got ousted? Or "live by the assist, die by the assist" when a pass-heavy team got beat?
Apparently, 3-point shooting carries a certain stigma that other playing styles do not, even though 3-point shooting teams have been wildly successful. Last season, the San Antonio Spurs were the best 3-point shooting team in the league and took 118 3-pointers in the first five games of the Finals, tied for the most all time. Before them, the 2013 champion Miami Heat won 66 games while firing up 3s at a top-five rate. The 2011 Dallas Mavericks? As jump-shooting as it gets. All took home the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
You don't have to look at just the recent champions. More and more, teams are winning by the 3-point shot. Just look at the standings. Golden State is 33-6 with probably the best shooting backcourt of all time. Every player in Atlanta's rotation shoots 3-pointers, and the Hawks are 27-2 since Thanksgiving. And then there's Portland, with the third-best record in the NBA and also the third-highest 3-point volume in the league.
It's time to retire the "live by the 3, die by the 3" cliché. The NBA is becoming more 3-point heavy than ever and the successful teams are leveraging it to their advantage. But which team uses the 3-pointer the most? And which teams use it most effectively?
At the season's halfway point, let's take a look at Insider's new 3-Point Index.