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Shooting 3-pointers is what Novak does. He did it with the Houston Rockets as a rookie in the 2006-7 season, and then with the Los Angeles Clippers, the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs. And now, to far more acclaim, he is doing it with the Knicks.
The Elias Sports Bureau says that since Novak has entered the N.B.A., a little more than 72 percent of his shots have been from 3-point range, the highest percentage of any player in the league over that period, based on a minimum of 500 total field-goal attempts.
Most players who are as tall as Novak prefer to take shots closer to the basket. But not Novak. And certainly not this season, when the number of 3-pointers compared with his other field-goal attempts — 113 to 27 — means almost 81 percent of his shots come from behind the arc.
Only the Mavericks’ Jason Kidd is devoting a higher percentage (85) of his shots to 3-pointers this season.
But Kidd has converted just 29 percent of his 120 3-point attempts, nowhere near the 46.9 percent success rate that Novak has had (53 of 113).
— Reported by Jake Appleman of the New York Times
