The Miami Heat may be the most injury-ravaged team in the NBA outside of Memphis; during their Monday night contest against the Philadelphia 76ers, they were without Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, Kevin Love, Nikola Jovic, and Josh Richardson, and to make matters worse, Duncan Robinson exited the game early due to back discomfort. All of these woes have pressed veteran guard Patty Mills into action, with the Heat giving him 22 minutes off the bench in a 98-91 loss.
Mills is no longer in his heyday; if he were, he would have been a much more crucial piece of the Heat roster since his arrival. Nonetheless, Mills drilled one of his six three-point attempts against the 76ers, and in doing so, he has tied Lou Williams for third all-time in career three-pointers made with 1,235, according to Ira Winderman of South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Patty Mills is now ever closer to the all-time record held by Kyle Korver, although it will be a while before the Heat guard threatens to surpass Korver’s tally. Korver made 1,385 deep shots in 809 games off the bench, coming mostly from when he was a member of the Utah Jazz, and Mills will need to make 151 more triples to be the all-time bench sharpshooting king.
If Mills notched this feat in an earlier juncture of his career, then it would have been a near-guarantee that he would surpass Korver. But at this point, the Heat guard might have to settle for second-place (he needs just 25 threes to surpass second-place Jamal Crawford). After all, Mills is already 35 years old, and he hasn’t exactly played in too many minutes this season. The Heat’s injury woes may change that, however.
The severity of Duncan Robinson’s injury is unclear, so the Heat might be in need of Patty Mills’ floor-spacing skillset over the next few weeks. Mills might be in a steep decline, but he’s still a career 38.8 percent shooter from beyond the arc, and outside marksmanship is a skill that tends to age well. Kyle Korver scorched the nets until he was 38 years old, so perhaps Mills has a few more years of productive basketball in his locker.
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