There have been quite a lot of surprises to start of this 2022-23 NBA season. For starters, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant are both leading teams that, well into November, are below .500. The two superstars have been carrying quite a load on their shoulders but the pieces around them have simply not been playing up to the mark.
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Thought to have peaked in 2016, Curry is currently playing as though he’s in his absolute prime. He’s at the highest point average of his career with 32.2 points on a nightly basis. He’s also shooting an absurd 44.3% from 3-point land, an uptick from his percentage from last season.
Durant, Curry’s former teammate, has also been shooting lights out, putting up 25+ points in every single game of this season on incredible efficiency. The Nets, after close to 20 games since the season started, seem to be figuring things out as well.
Kevin Durant on Yuta Watanabe vs Stephen Curry
Yuta Watanabe has proven himself to be the floor-stretching big the Nets desperately needed. On a team with guys like Ben Simmons and Nic Claxton, Yuta provides a new dimension to their frontcourt.
In tonight’s win against the Grizzlies, he dropped a casual 16 points on 4-6 shooting from beyond. He would also go off for 20 points in the nail-biting win against Portland where he went 5-7 from beyond.
Following the Grizzlies win, Kevin Durant was asked who he would take between Yuta Watanabe and Stephen Curry in a shooting contest. Of course, this question was in jest but KD, as expected chose himself. Though he would then go on to give props to both Curry and Yuta.
Asked Durant if he would take Yuta or Steph in a 3-point contest right now. He voted for himself. “Steph’s a God but Yuta’s definitely knocking ’em down right now. “
— Alex Schiffer (@Alex__Schiffer) November 21, 2022
Yuta Watanabe’s shooting numbers
Yuta has been posted up on either corner of the 3-point arc for a majority of his shots from behind the arc. From the left corner, he’s shooting an absurd 87.5% and from the right, an equally as absurd 69.2%.
What’s interesting is that he attempts the same amount of above the break 3s in a game as he does corner 3s. His total percentage on corner 3s is 76.2% while his percentage on above the break ones is 38.1%.
