Just in his second season, Keegan Murray has proven that he is an elite shooter after scoring 47 points on December 16, 2023, against the Utah Jazz. After being inconsistent from the deep in the early part of the season, the shooter turned in a Kings franchise record 12 triples. He made 11 straight triples, which is an NBA record. Despite such shooting galore, the 23-year-old missed out on seizing the record for most threes in a game.
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The record belongs to Klay Thompson, who clinched 14 triples in 2018 against the Chicago Bulls. The genius shooter recorded 52 points in just 27 minutes during that record-breaking night. Fittingly, he topped his mate Stephen Curry who had nailed 13 triples in 2016.
It is not a surprise that the top-five record holders for most triples come in the last seven years. In this list, only Thompson and Curry are the ones to have made 12 triples or more during multiple instances.
Bryant had hit the 12 mark in 2003. He eclipsed Dennis Scott who had nailed 11 triples in 1996. Whereas Marshall followed suit just two years after the Black Mamba. Curry broke Bryant and Marshall’s record after 13 years and it opened the floodgates. There are a bunch of instances where a sharpshooter has nailed at least 11 triples during a game in the last three years. Therefore, Murray still has four players above him on the list.
The three-point shooting era has just started
As Murray reaps the rewards of the current three-point shooting-heavy era, the precedent was laid by Curry back in 2016. On November 7, 2016, Curry broke Bryant’s record against the Pelicans as he scored 46 points, nailing 13 triples. While Thompson tops the list with 14, Damian Lillard and Zach LaVine have clicked on 13 triples joining Curry.
Lillard did it last season on February 26 when he exploded for 71 points against the Houston Rockets. Meanwhile, Zach LaVine captured 13 threes on November 23, 2019, when he scored 49 points against the Charlotte Hornets.
Thompson is the only player to have 12 triples in a game, twice during a season. He did it in 2023 against the Rockets and the Thunder. Bryant did it against the SuperSonice on January 7, 2003, en route to a 45 points night. Playing for the Raptors, Marshall leveled the Black Mamba on March 13, 2005, scoring 38 points against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Curry tied both of them and scored 46 points on February 27, 2016, against the Thunder. At any rate, Murray is among the elite companies and is just at the dawn of his career. Do you think he can surpass legends like Steph Curry and Thompson?