And here's a little research I did for the games after ASG:
vs--------3p/game----3p%----3pvsUTA----3p%vsUTA
vs POR------- 27.7----- 36.1----- 22----- 18.2
vs SAS------- 22.9----- 36.1----- 19----- 26.3
vs LAL------- 19.2----- 34.5----- 11----- 18.2
vs DEN------- 24.2----- 31.3----- 21----- 42.9
vs MIL------- 18.7----- 37.1----- 15----- 33.3
vs MEM------- 15.3----- 33.5----- 25----- 20
vs BOS------- 24.3----- 32.8----- 27----- 29.6
vs PHI------- 24.6----- 31.9----- 32----- 31.3
Sorry for the formatting issues, hope it's clear what we are talking about - first column is the opponent, second is the opponents # of 3P FGA/game, third is opponents 3p FG% for the season, fourth one is how many 3p they took against us, the last one is what % they shot against us from 3.
There's only one game in which the opponent has shot above their season average from 3 and that's the Denver game, in which we blew them out and there were some garbage time 3s. For the rest, opponents have shot lower than their season averages. Also, worth pointing out that with the exception of the last 3 games, opponents have been shooting much fewer 3s against this defense. Sample size is still relatively small, but I think there is a tendency forming up - we are defending the perimeter very well and opponents are missing 3s.
That's a good thing to see and an underrated part of our current defense. When you add the rim protection and the fact that opponents are shooting below 50% in the restricted area(per
Grantland article), I think the reasons for our new found defensive success becomes even more clear - we are running teams off of the 3p line, we are scaring them away from the restricted area, and even when they do shoot, they are shooting worse than 1ppp from the two most effective zones on the field. What's left for them - inefficient long 2s where pretty much only Chris Paul and Curry are above 1ppp in the league(this is exaggeration, but the list of effective mid-range shooters s indeed very short).
