5 Active players with the most points in an NBA Finals game without scoring a 3-pointer
3-point shooting is considered one of the important aspects of the modern-day NBA. Teams crave to have sharpshooters on their roster who can give them the advantage to outscore opponents to ease.
But even the best of shooters from the long-range struggle for consistency from time to time. Devin Booker is the latest example of this. After making a record seven 3s in Game 2 of the 2021 NBA Finals, the Phoenix Suns' star has only made 1 of his 10 attempts from beyond the arc in the two games since then.
In the Suns' Game 4 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, Booker made only three attempts from the 3-point line and failed to convert all of them. Despite his struggles from downtown, he had a high-scoring game, thanks to his lethal mid-range and free-throw shooting that helped him compensate.
Apart from Booker, numerous retired as well as active players have put up high-scoring games despite not making a single 3-pointer during the course of an NBA Finals game.
We list five active players with the most points in an NBA Finals game without scoring from the 3-point line.
#5 Kyrie Irving - 38 points (2017 NBA Finals)
Kyrie Irving finished the 2020-21 NBA season with 50/40/90 shooting splits, a rare and commendable feat for any player. Irving is a solid scorer and shooter who can make tough contested shots with an immense amount of confidence.
During Game 3 of the 2017 NBA Finals, however, Kyrie struggled from the three-point line. Nonetheless, his solid mid-range game and ability to finish at the rim came in handy for the Brooklyn Nets star, who played for the Cleveland Cavaliers back then.
He ended up scoring 38 points on 16-of-29 shooting while missing all six of his attempts from beyond the arc. The Cavs lost the game 113-118 to the Golden State Warriors, conceding a 0-3 lead.
#4 Jimmy Butler - 40 points (2020 NBA Finals)
The Miami Heat were down 0-2 in the 2020 NBA Finals and desperately needed a win to make the series a competitive one against the LA Lakers. Their talisman Jimmy Butler was in sublime form and was key to their hopes of claiming a win in Game 3. Butler stepped up big time for the team, notching up a 40-point triple-double. The Heat beat the Lakers 115-104 to cut their series lead to one game.
Butler shot an impressive 70% from the field on 20 attempts and made 12 of his 14 free throw attempts as well. All of his field-goal attempts came from two-point range only, though, as he went on to be ranked third on the list of active players with the most points in an NBA Finals game without scoring from long-range.