How crucial is three-point shooting in the NBA today?

Mike Miller #13 of the Miami Heat smiles during his post game press conference next to the Larry O’Brien FInals Championship trophy after they won 121-106 against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Five of the 2012 NBA Finals on June 21, 2012 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. (Getty Images)

Let’s rewind back to the 2012 NBA Finals. Everyone knows the Miami Heat swept the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5. But for everyone following the NBA, there was a lesson learned. Mike Miller, till then known only by the select basketball fan core, went from an unheralded talent to a game winner for the Miami Heat.

Till Game 5, not many Miami Heat fans expected a decisive performance from this bench warmer. Miller wasn’t upstaged by the moment as he knocked down seven three-pointers and proved to be the difference in a game Heat won by 15 that earned the elusive Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy. Miller only entered the game as a substitute for a foul-plagued Dwayne Wade and he showed how vital any player could be with just lethal three-point shooting.

Now, let us fast forward to the present day NBA Finals. The series is tied at 2-2 with Game 5 set to take place at San Antonio. But how does a team that does not match the Heat in talent as much as the 2012 Thunder did, capitalise so much to keep it at 2-2. The answer again lies at three-point shooting.

San Antonio’s ability to stay in games, lead the series after Game 1 and 3, has been decided so far by the emergence of two players: Danny Green and Gary Neal. Two players, like Miller, who are not so popular outside the select basketball fan core and found it hard to get a team to sign them.

More often than not, such players get cut by teams that drafted them and ply their trade elsewhere. But how do they become such crucial ball players? The answer again lies in the trend of three-point shooting. Threes decided Game 3 for San Antonio. The same happened in Game 1 – a steal in the NBA Finals that could prove vital in Spurs’ title ascendancy.

The significance of three-point shooting can never be understated. The first reason being the simple mathematical quotient – three is always greater than two. Six threes calculate to 18 while six twos are 12. That is how the vitality of Miller worked for Miami.

He made seven out of eight threes attempted that led to 21 points while Kevin Durant in the same stretch of time, made barely five out of eight field goal attempts. 21 points set the tone for Miami while Durant’s 10 points didn’t help as much to cut the Heat lead.